Lieutenants have been picked up, forces armed, and the battle cry sounded. For the BJP, its time to launch the onslaught! The recent nut-and-bolt session of the BJP in Nagpur was different in many ways — it helped party to take stock of the situation, plug the loopholes and prepare for the showdown.
It was during this meet that NDA’s Prime Ministerial candidate LK Advani identified his team, delegated election management responsibilities, spelt out party’s poll agenda and, most importantly, silenced rumors about a Genext divide in the saffron brigade.
Arun Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu, Sushma Swaraj and almost all BJP CMs have found a place in Team Advani. Each of them has been delegated specific responsibility of states as part of the decentralised campaign proposed by Advani.
Advani and BJP chief Rajnath Singh also tried to clear the confusion over party’s poll agenda. BJP is confident, electoral losses in Delhi and Rajasthan do not necessarily mean that terrorism has failed as a poll issue. Both the senior BJP leaders asserted terrorism very much remained the party’s poll plank.
Despite the wide media coverage that Advani and Rajnath’s reference to the Ayodhya issue received, the BJP was categorical it can’t afford to give space to the controversial issue in the NDA’s agenda for governance. “Political resolve on a political platform not necessarily become a political agenda,” party’s spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy explained.
Also, there was a timely realisation within the party that a dipping inflation was not going to fit in the party’s scheme of things.
So instead of a terror plus inflation (this was decided in the executive meeting in Bangalore in September last) plank, BJP plans to make it a terror plus economic crisis plank. “Economic crisis would be clubbed with increasing prices of food grains,” BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley told The Pioneer.
Renowned psephologist GVL Narismha Rao, who was inducted into the BJP’s national executive in Nagpur, suggested the party to carry a “positive campaign” that highlights BJP and Advani’s resolve to deal with terrorism with an iron fist.
What trickled out of the closed-door meeting of BJP leaders in Nagpur
was apprehension about party’s performance in states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, which the BJP swept in the last LS polls.
To repeat the magic in its stronghold states, the BJP felt it needed stars. The BJP was correct in asking most of its Rajya Sabha members to throw their hats into the electoral ring. For the last few years, the party was without any worthy “talent” in the Lok Sabha. This forced Advani to bear the brunt of the UPA charges against the Opposition.
Now, when many members of the Rajya Sabha — Murli Manohar Joshi (Varanasi), Yashwant Sinha (Hazaribag), Sushma Swaraj (probably from Bhopal) are contesting the elections — the BJP expects they would influence the results of the neighbouring seats as well. Rajnath Singh and vice president MA Naqvi, whose term in the RS expired last November, are also contesting the polls from Ghaziabad and Rampur, respectively.
The party also seemed to have found the answer to Congress’ campaign about “Youth Leadership” — something that was aimed at pitting ‘young’ Rahul Gandhi against ‘experienced’ Advani.
It was Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi who told the party not to nurse an “inferiority complex” and instead go all out to convince the voters that the average age of BJP CM, MPs and MLAs was less than that of the Congress’ and unlike the grand old party of India, BJP does not promote children of the first family and influential leaders.
It is expected the BJP’s offensive against Rahul Gandhi and the Nehru-Gandhi family would intensify with every passing day. Jaitley would be leading this war of nerves between the BJP and the Congress.
The BJP hopes the galaxy of leaders, right issues and good poll management would help it free the country from the “misrule” of the UPA. “Convince the voters that this government has to go for the good of the country. The fight is not to make Advani the Prime Minister or to bring the BJP back to Centre. It is to save the country and the voters,” Advani told the workers.
Moreover, with Advani making it clear that the seat sharing arrangement between the BJP and its allies would remain frozen — the NDA allies would share the seats according to the 2004 formula — it is now expected that the announcement of the names of the candidates for states like Bihar, Punjab, Orissa and Maharashtra would take place soon.
In any case, the BJP leadership has conveyed to the states, the seat it would contest and the names of the candidates should be finalised and announced before February 25. That would clearly give the party a big lead over its rival —the Congress — in building the election campaign.
Advani made the right move by decentralising the entire management affairs and distributing the entire battlefield in different zone, each looked after by his trusted lieutenants.
He, however will have to ensure there are no ego clashes and overlapping of jobs. There could be leaders who may find it difficult in working in states where satraps call the shots.
Moreover, with a certain overlapping (Madhya Pradesh would be looked after by Sushma Swaraj and Ananth Kumar, both), utmost care should be taken that such cases do not take a toll on election management.
The party is faced with the challenge of making rivals to work in tandem (Rajya Sabha member BS Koshiyari would look after election management in Uttarakhand of which his bete-noire BC Khanduri is the Chief Minister).
The BJP is also faced with the challenge of limiting the leaders of the party having “shifting loyalties” and “nuisance values”. For them the message came loud and clear from Advani: don’t score self goals, it will harm you more than the party.
The BJP expects to maintain the momentum it generated at its Nagpur conclave and take it more vigorously forward till the mega finals.
THE LIEUTENANTS
Arun Jaitley
He has emerged as the most trusted aide of LK Advani, who wants the party’s charismatic general secretary to handle the election management of two most crucial states — Bihar and Uttar Pradesh — besides Delhi, Punjab and Chandigarh. Seen as the man with the Midas touch, Jaitley would be overseeing the election management of the party on close to 150 parliamentary seats. In addition, he would be pressed into service for raising funds for the party to meet election expenses, a job he has been doing for a while. Jaitley is not contesting the elections.
M Venkaiah Naidu
Advani wants the former BJP president pave the way for BJP to make inroads in south India. Naidu is also looking after election management for close to 100 seats in
Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Another leader who has been entrusted with the responsibility to raise funds for the party, Naidu’s main task is to revive the party in Andhra Pradesh, his home state. He will also not contest the elections.
Sushma Swaraj
A Rajya Sabha member, the fiery diva will be the BJP candidate from Bhopal. It’s after a long time that she has been entrusted with some important assignments by way of looking after election management in MP, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, accounting for over 50 Lok Sabha seats. BJP is expecting to bag a majority of seats at stake in this region. The popularity of chief ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan (MP) and Raman Singh (Chhattisgarh) will come in good stead for her. BJP, which has no representation from Jharkhand, is expecting a reversal of fortunes big way given the muddle in the State.
Narendra Modi
From being dropped from the BJP’s parliamentary board in 2007 to emerging
as the star campaigner of the BJP in 2008, Modi’s growing stature, with leading captains of India Inc too recently dubbing him Prime Ministerial material, has now earned him the responsibility of election management in Maharashtra and Goa besides his home turf. The BJP is expecting to reap the dividends of Modi’s popularity both by way of his image as a role model for development and a Hindutva hardliner.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan
Emerging as the OBC face of the BJP; after Kalyan Singh’s exit, the soft-spoken Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister has won many praises from Advani for repeating the magic that once Narendra Modi did — coming back to power. In Advani’s own words Shivraj’s performance is significant given that he got a stint of just two years before facing the elections. Shivraj’s pro-people schemes, especially for girl child and women, had been a great hit. He is now been asked to look after his state and repeat the 2004 performance — BJP won 25 out of 29 seats.
BS Yeddyurappa
He is the first CM of the BJP in any South Indian state. Strongly backed by the RSS, he emerged as the leader of farmers during the BJP-JD(S) government and helped BJP form a government on its own in the state. BJP has stood behind him as he continues facing problems, administratively and personally. Elections approaching, BJP is banking on him to improve its tally (BJP bagged 18 out of total 28 seats in the 2004 elections). The party feels his magic may bring electoral dividends to the party in regions of AP and Kerala, sharing borders with Karnataka.
Raman Singh
The sauve, low-profile and baby-faced Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh joined the ranks of Narendra Modi and Shivraj Singh Chouhan to retain power. His populist measures earned him the sobriquet of chaur wale baba and popularised him among both tribals and non-tribals. His clean and pro-development image too are his strength. These prompted Advani to take him on board. The BJP had bagged nine of the 10 seats in the tribal state last time. His job is to ensure the BJP fortress in Chhattisgarh isn’t dented.
THE ISSUES
Economic Crisis
BJP strategists believe the economic crisis would be a better poll issue than inflation to strike the right chord with the electorate. For, inflation is slowly getting under control and the situation is expected only to improve in the coming months, especially, when India would be electing its government. That will not make a poll issue. Instead, the BJP assessment is that the global meltdown’s impact on India would worsen in time to come and by the time election approaches the economic crisis would have wrecked havoc. Millions of small time investors (either in the stock market or other tools of market linked investment) would lose their money and no less a number would lose their jobs. The affected segment would be the middle class and the youths, BJP’s core support base.
Mahatma Gandhi
Many attributed BJP’s defeat in 2004 to the “disconnect” between party and the “real India”. So this time the party is taking utmost care to do the balancing act. When BJP chief Rajnath Singh objected to Congress’ “rights” over Gandhi and his economic model, his strategists pointed out it was a well-calculated move to shed the BJP’s image of being a party of the capitalists. With global meltdown taking its toll on India, BJP has proposed an economic model based on the philosophies of the Mahatma and Sangh patriarch Deen Dayal Upadhyay — empowering the villages and villagers.
Security
Party feels security continues to remain a poll issue. However, some strategists advised party leadership to bank on a “positive campaign” - highlighting the NDA strategy of dealing terrorism with an “iron fist”. After electoral debacles in Delhi and Rajasthan, there were demands from certain quarters from within the party to reconsider the decision of making terrorism a poll issue. The BJP had lost both the states, wherein elections were held amidst a high pitched election campaign over the 26/11 Mumbai strike. However, LK Advani is of the opinion that India is still “insecure” and the electorate have to be convinced that the country was not safe
in the hands of a “soft UPA”.
Infrastructure
The BJP will go all out against the UPA government for derailing major infrastructure projects initiated by the previous Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. BJP’s poll managers feel people still remember the achievement that the previous NDA government had made in the national highway development programme. Most of these programmes, including the interlinking of rivers, have now been put on the backburner and the BJP is expected to come out with poll assurances to complete all these unfinished works if voted to power.
Governance
BJP’s poll campaign will also be critical of the UPA’s misrule, the rampant corruption under the present regime and the government’s attempt to make the constitutional office subservient. The cash-for-vote scandal, misuse of the CBI for haunting the rivals of UPA and help its friends, compromise of election commission’s independence by refusing to act against the “biased” election commissioner Navin Chawla and many more would be part of BJP’s poll campaign. Advani said if voted to power, the NDA government will ensure the Prime Minister and his ministerial colleagues disclose the details of their and their family members’ assets once in a year.
Youth
The party will make every attempt to take the wind out of the Congress’ sail, which aims at bringing the issue of ‘Youth Leadership’ at the centrestage. Not only the BJP will counter through its poll campaign the argument that Congress leadership was younger than that of the BJP, it will go all out to project Congress Gen X as the group that got entry into the politics on “compassionate ground”.
Ram Temple
This has always been an emotive issue for the BJP and its workers. So this time the party consciously chose to make a reference to the vexed Ayodhya issue with both Rajnath Singh and LK Advani reiterating the party’s commitment to construct the Ram Temple at the disputed site, whenever the BJP comes to power on its own. While party strategists admit the BJP will not make the Ram Temple a poll issue, they say the BJP leaders’ reference to the issue was meant to send signals to the party cadre and its core support base that the party has not dumped the issue, which led to its phenomenal rise in the Indian politics.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Will Kalyan Singh make an impact?
The BJP is keeping its fingers crossed over the fallout of Kalyan Singh’s exit on the politics of Uttar Pradesh, which many say holds the key to the formation of the next government at the Centre. The BJP has reasons to find solace in the arguments that “discredited” political leaders are no problem for their rivals. And Kalyan is of course “discredited”. He left the BJP, spewed venom on its tallest leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee, returned after some years, promoted his family members and close aides, walked out of the party again to assuage personal egos and changed not only his party but also his philosophy.
The Hindutva poster boy of yesteryears is ready to don the Samajwadi cap even as he facilitated his son’s entry into the SP, against whom he fought for more than three decades. But it would be harder for Kalyan this time to convince his caste men, who rallied behind the OBC mascot of the BJP when he quit the party in 1999, that his decision to desert the BJP was for the good of his Lodh community.
Kalyan’s biggest strength is caste. He arm-twisted the BJP and had the final word on many issues for the simple reason that he had a solid following of the Lodh community behind him. His earlier decision (of 1999) to walk out of the BJP proved too costly for his parent outfit. He led to the BJP’s defeat in close to 40 assembly seats and his party bagged around four per cent of the total votes polled in the 2002 assembly polls.
However, he returned to BJP in early 2004 sans his magic and the BJP’s tally in the May Lok Sabha polls came down from 25 to nine seats. The former UP Chief Minister failed again in the 2007 assembly elections when the BJP registered one of its worst performances.
“Caste leaves an impact when it is in a negative sense. Kalyan’s Lodh community rallied behind him when he walked out and deserted him when he returned. It is to be seen if those patterns repeat this time against the backdrop that Kalyan has now exposed himself,” a senior BJP leader said.
BJP strategists admitted Kalyan might have some impact on six parliamentary seats -Farrukhabad, Firozabad, Etah, Kannauj, Bulandsaher and Badayun. “However, it is still early to comment on what intensity it would be,” they added.
The BJP is hopeful of a minimal impact of Kalyan on these seats given that it has nothing to lose except for Bulandsaher, which he represents in the present Lok Sabha. Even in Bulandsaher’s Dibai assembly segment, the constituency having more than 1.5 lakh Lodh voters that Kalyan has represented more than half-a-dozen times, his son faced defeat at the hands of a BSP candidate.
“Kalyan could not ensure the victory of his son from a Lodh-dominated assembly constituency that he represented for so many years. He is surely turning out to be a lost force,” BJP leaders claimed.
Party’s national general secretary Arun Jaitley told reporters it is always painful if somebody leaves the party but hoped that Kalyan’s exit would have less impact on BJP’s poll fortunes. “He was not attending the party’s meeting after 2007 assembly elections. He was reluctant to discuss issues related to party’s preparedness for elections in UP,” Jaitley maintained.
The BJP categorically denied Kalyan’s claim that he was insulted and humiliated in the party. “He got things that many BJP leaders have never got after deserting the party and then returning. He would remain a respectable person for us but the decision to quit BJP is his own,” party’s national spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.
The BJP recollected: Kalyan was allowed to lead the party in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls; BJP president Rajnath Singh was kept out of UP in the parliamentary elections on his request; he was projected as the Chief Ministerial candidate in the 2007 assembly elections even after a lacklustre performance in 2004; tickets were distributed according to his wishes, and one of his close associates Kusum Rai was sent to the Rajya Sabha a month back
BJP sources pointed out the party had offered to nominate Kalyan’s son Rajbir to the Upper House when it was selecting candidates a month back but the former UP CM preferred Kusum Rai to his son.
Interestingly, Kusum was the first close aide of Kalyan to have distanced herself from him after he decided to work in tandem with the Samajwadi Party. “I shall remain in the party, loyal to its leadership and policies,” she reiterated. Kusum is the same woman for whom Kalyan virtually held the party to ransom and got a Rajya Sabha ticket for her.
At 77, Kalyan, undoubtedly, faces the biggest challenge of his political career in the coming Lok Sabha polls.
The Hindutva poster boy of yesteryears is ready to don the Samajwadi cap even as he facilitated his son’s entry into the SP, against whom he fought for more than three decades. But it would be harder for Kalyan this time to convince his caste men, who rallied behind the OBC mascot of the BJP when he quit the party in 1999, that his decision to desert the BJP was for the good of his Lodh community.
Kalyan’s biggest strength is caste. He arm-twisted the BJP and had the final word on many issues for the simple reason that he had a solid following of the Lodh community behind him. His earlier decision (of 1999) to walk out of the BJP proved too costly for his parent outfit. He led to the BJP’s defeat in close to 40 assembly seats and his party bagged around four per cent of the total votes polled in the 2002 assembly polls.
However, he returned to BJP in early 2004 sans his magic and the BJP’s tally in the May Lok Sabha polls came down from 25 to nine seats. The former UP Chief Minister failed again in the 2007 assembly elections when the BJP registered one of its worst performances.
“Caste leaves an impact when it is in a negative sense. Kalyan’s Lodh community rallied behind him when he walked out and deserted him when he returned. It is to be seen if those patterns repeat this time against the backdrop that Kalyan has now exposed himself,” a senior BJP leader said.
BJP strategists admitted Kalyan might have some impact on six parliamentary seats -Farrukhabad, Firozabad, Etah, Kannauj, Bulandsaher and Badayun. “However, it is still early to comment on what intensity it would be,” they added.
The BJP is hopeful of a minimal impact of Kalyan on these seats given that it has nothing to lose except for Bulandsaher, which he represents in the present Lok Sabha. Even in Bulandsaher’s Dibai assembly segment, the constituency having more than 1.5 lakh Lodh voters that Kalyan has represented more than half-a-dozen times, his son faced defeat at the hands of a BSP candidate.
“Kalyan could not ensure the victory of his son from a Lodh-dominated assembly constituency that he represented for so many years. He is surely turning out to be a lost force,” BJP leaders claimed.
Party’s national general secretary Arun Jaitley told reporters it is always painful if somebody leaves the party but hoped that Kalyan’s exit would have less impact on BJP’s poll fortunes. “He was not attending the party’s meeting after 2007 assembly elections. He was reluctant to discuss issues related to party’s preparedness for elections in UP,” Jaitley maintained.
The BJP categorically denied Kalyan’s claim that he was insulted and humiliated in the party. “He got things that many BJP leaders have never got after deserting the party and then returning. He would remain a respectable person for us but the decision to quit BJP is his own,” party’s national spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.
The BJP recollected: Kalyan was allowed to lead the party in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls; BJP president Rajnath Singh was kept out of UP in the parliamentary elections on his request; he was projected as the Chief Ministerial candidate in the 2007 assembly elections even after a lacklustre performance in 2004; tickets were distributed according to his wishes, and one of his close associates Kusum Rai was sent to the Rajya Sabha a month back
BJP sources pointed out the party had offered to nominate Kalyan’s son Rajbir to the Upper House when it was selecting candidates a month back but the former UP CM preferred Kusum Rai to his son.
Interestingly, Kusum was the first close aide of Kalyan to have distanced herself from him after he decided to work in tandem with the Samajwadi Party. “I shall remain in the party, loyal to its leadership and policies,” she reiterated. Kusum is the same woman for whom Kalyan virtually held the party to ransom and got a Rajya Sabha ticket for her.
At 77, Kalyan, undoubtedly, faces the biggest challenge of his political career in the coming Lok Sabha polls.
Old Guards of 'Young India'
They have never believed in hanging up their boots. The ‘old guards’ of politics are all out to stamp their authority in ‘Young India’. If some say it’s to retain their lost glory, others attribute it to their “over ambitiousness”.
With former vice president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat creating a political storm of sorts by claiming that the issue of picking up NDA’s Prime Ministerial candidate was still wide open, the limelight has yet again shifted to the country’s political veterans - all asking for their pound of flesh.
From BJP’s Kalyan Singh to Congress’ K Karunakaran; from National Conference’ Farooq Abdullah to Janata Dal (Secular)’s HD Deve Gowda, each one of them has his own different reason to seek a place under the political arc lights. Interestingly though, all these veterans have a striking commonness: They all have been Chief Ministers, and they are all on the wrong side (or right side) of 70. If Shekhawat is aged 85, then Karunakaran is 90; if Kalyan is aged 77, then Farooq is 73.
Still, the most amazing story has been the “awakening” of Shekhawat. The man, who started as a sub-inspector with Rajasthan Police and gradually rose to become the Vice President of the country, is now waging a war against the party that he nursed all these years.
Some in the BJP question the timing Shekhawat chose to launch a tirade against the party. His “outbursts” against former Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje and “expression of interest” to contest the Lok Sabha elections have come at a time when the Central leadership was struggling with several internal conflicts.
It is now common knowledge that Shekhawat believes he was “consciously” sidelined by his colleagues in the party to end the competition for the top job - Prime Ministership.
It was perhaps this feeling that agitated Shekhawat when BJP president Rajnath Singh rebuffed him saying those who have taken a dip in the Ganga do not think about taking bath in a well. “I entered politics when Rajnath was not even born,” Shekhawat retorted, and strongly at that.
Shekhawat is, undoubtedly, much elder to most of the active BJP leaders. Still his call failed to evoke much response. His proposed campaign against corruption (that he claims was rampant during last BJP government in Rajasthan) has apparently more to do with personal rivalries with Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. She had stopped listening to the Rajput veteran from Rajasthan.
“Will he led a similar campaign against his friends outside the BJP? Many of those who have been in the good books of Shekhawat are accused of swindling public money. Why is he not speaking against them?” A BJP office bearer wonders, echoing the prevailing subdued feelings within a section of the party.
“There has also been a dark side to Shekhawat’s politics. It has revolved around caste considerations. Shekhawat’s biggest strength had been his friends (most of them were from his caste) outside the BJP. They are the one who are understood to have convinced Shekhawat to contest the Presidential election in 2007 despite little chance of winning the race,” BJP sources said.
Shekhawat has mostly relied on his friends outside. Even this time around he is enjoying more support from outside than from within the BJP. The Nationalist Congress Party was quick to welcome his decision to contest elections and so was the Samajwadi Party. From within the NDA stable, Shekhawat’s call found an instant support from the Janata Dal (United) quarters. With Thakurs from outside the BJP thronging his sprawling bungalow on Aurangzeb Road of Lutyens’ Delhi, Shekhawat is surely pinning hopes on non-BJP leaders to take up his cause.
It was perhaps for this reason, a BJP insider said, that Rajnath had no option but to side with Advani when Shekhawat challenged the NDA’s decision to anoint him as the Prime Ministerial candidate of the alliance. Perhaps, this was also to dispel the impression that Shekhawat’s “misadventure” had Rajnath’s support.
Shekhawat apart, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh too is now giving the BJP a serious headache. Singh, who is a serving vice president of the BJP, has been at odds with the party’s central leaders, many of whom are much junior to him, for reclaiming the same status he enjoyed a couple of years ago.
But for Kalyan, dubbed as a “sulking soul” always asking for “something more”, his biggest problem is Rajnath Singh, his competitor from Uttar Pradesh, who rose to become the national president of the party even after starting as his junior colleague in the state.
Speculations have been rife that Kalyan was hobnobbing with many rebel leaders of the BJP and with his friends in the Samajwadi Party to deal a severe blow to his party in case it decided to tie up with former union minister Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal against his wishes.
Then, there is a common thread uniting JD (S) chief HD Deve Gowda and National Conference mentor Farooq Abdullah. The veterans from the South and North of Vindhyas have refused to call it a day even after passing on the baton to their sons.
Farooq Abdullah recently made way for his son Omar Abdullah, but not before expressing his own ambitions of becoming the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. No doubt, Farooq was the Chief Ministerial candidate of his party before elections, he, however, had to give in to the pressure from within the party and his own family to allow his son to take over.
Deve Gowda was not left with much to do with Karnataka politics after his son HD Kumaraswamy started calling the shots in the party after becoming the Chief Minister of the BJP-JD (S) dispensation. Kumaraswamy is now assigned with the responsibility of rebuilding the party in Karnataka, the state that BJP snatched from the Congress and the JD (S). But he continues to harbour the dreams of a Third Front and a major role in the central politics.
With “son rise” in the JD (S) and the NC - Omar Abdullah as J&K Chief Minister and HD Kumaraswamy in full control of the party in Karnataka - Farooq and Deve Gowda have found reasons to prepare for a fresh innings at the Centre.
Farooq has decided to take charge of the National Conference that will tie up with the Congress in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls. Deve Gowda, who suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the BJP in last year’s assembly elections, has reasons to rejoice with the results of the by-poll for over half-a-dozen seats, which proved he is still a force to reckon with in the southern State. Congress would surely like Deve Gowda to be on its side.
But the Grand Old party of India has its own problem, further down South. Former Kerala Chief Minister and veteran Congressman K Karunakaran, ‘leader’ to his supporters, has been giving sleepless nights to his party leaders ever since the Congress went ahead with making AK Antony as the Chief Minister. His antics of leaving the party to form the Democratic Indira Congress, only to merge it later with NCP and then leave it to rejoin the Congress, have left the Congress perplexed. It can now never hazard a guess when it comes to the Kerala veteran. But at the same time it also cannot do away with him.
Their age notwithstanding, the grand old men of Indian politics continue to register their presence in the billion-strong nation, over 65 per cent of which is below 35 years of age and half of it below 25 years. Its time for the voters to SPEAK OUT
With former vice president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat creating a political storm of sorts by claiming that the issue of picking up NDA’s Prime Ministerial candidate was still wide open, the limelight has yet again shifted to the country’s political veterans - all asking for their pound of flesh.
From BJP’s Kalyan Singh to Congress’ K Karunakaran; from National Conference’ Farooq Abdullah to Janata Dal (Secular)’s HD Deve Gowda, each one of them has his own different reason to seek a place under the political arc lights. Interestingly though, all these veterans have a striking commonness: They all have been Chief Ministers, and they are all on the wrong side (or right side) of 70. If Shekhawat is aged 85, then Karunakaran is 90; if Kalyan is aged 77, then Farooq is 73.
Still, the most amazing story has been the “awakening” of Shekhawat. The man, who started as a sub-inspector with Rajasthan Police and gradually rose to become the Vice President of the country, is now waging a war against the party that he nursed all these years.
Some in the BJP question the timing Shekhawat chose to launch a tirade against the party. His “outbursts” against former Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje and “expression of interest” to contest the Lok Sabha elections have come at a time when the Central leadership was struggling with several internal conflicts.
It is now common knowledge that Shekhawat believes he was “consciously” sidelined by his colleagues in the party to end the competition for the top job - Prime Ministership.
It was perhaps this feeling that agitated Shekhawat when BJP president Rajnath Singh rebuffed him saying those who have taken a dip in the Ganga do not think about taking bath in a well. “I entered politics when Rajnath was not even born,” Shekhawat retorted, and strongly at that.
Shekhawat is, undoubtedly, much elder to most of the active BJP leaders. Still his call failed to evoke much response. His proposed campaign against corruption (that he claims was rampant during last BJP government in Rajasthan) has apparently more to do with personal rivalries with Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. She had stopped listening to the Rajput veteran from Rajasthan.
“Will he led a similar campaign against his friends outside the BJP? Many of those who have been in the good books of Shekhawat are accused of swindling public money. Why is he not speaking against them?” A BJP office bearer wonders, echoing the prevailing subdued feelings within a section of the party.
“There has also been a dark side to Shekhawat’s politics. It has revolved around caste considerations. Shekhawat’s biggest strength had been his friends (most of them were from his caste) outside the BJP. They are the one who are understood to have convinced Shekhawat to contest the Presidential election in 2007 despite little chance of winning the race,” BJP sources said.
Shekhawat has mostly relied on his friends outside. Even this time around he is enjoying more support from outside than from within the BJP. The Nationalist Congress Party was quick to welcome his decision to contest elections and so was the Samajwadi Party. From within the NDA stable, Shekhawat’s call found an instant support from the Janata Dal (United) quarters. With Thakurs from outside the BJP thronging his sprawling bungalow on Aurangzeb Road of Lutyens’ Delhi, Shekhawat is surely pinning hopes on non-BJP leaders to take up his cause.
It was perhaps for this reason, a BJP insider said, that Rajnath had no option but to side with Advani when Shekhawat challenged the NDA’s decision to anoint him as the Prime Ministerial candidate of the alliance. Perhaps, this was also to dispel the impression that Shekhawat’s “misadventure” had Rajnath’s support.
Shekhawat apart, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh too is now giving the BJP a serious headache. Singh, who is a serving vice president of the BJP, has been at odds with the party’s central leaders, many of whom are much junior to him, for reclaiming the same status he enjoyed a couple of years ago.
But for Kalyan, dubbed as a “sulking soul” always asking for “something more”, his biggest problem is Rajnath Singh, his competitor from Uttar Pradesh, who rose to become the national president of the party even after starting as his junior colleague in the state.
Speculations have been rife that Kalyan was hobnobbing with many rebel leaders of the BJP and with his friends in the Samajwadi Party to deal a severe blow to his party in case it decided to tie up with former union minister Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal against his wishes.
Then, there is a common thread uniting JD (S) chief HD Deve Gowda and National Conference mentor Farooq Abdullah. The veterans from the South and North of Vindhyas have refused to call it a day even after passing on the baton to their sons.
Farooq Abdullah recently made way for his son Omar Abdullah, but not before expressing his own ambitions of becoming the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. No doubt, Farooq was the Chief Ministerial candidate of his party before elections, he, however, had to give in to the pressure from within the party and his own family to allow his son to take over.
Deve Gowda was not left with much to do with Karnataka politics after his son HD Kumaraswamy started calling the shots in the party after becoming the Chief Minister of the BJP-JD (S) dispensation. Kumaraswamy is now assigned with the responsibility of rebuilding the party in Karnataka, the state that BJP snatched from the Congress and the JD (S). But he continues to harbour the dreams of a Third Front and a major role in the central politics.
With “son rise” in the JD (S) and the NC - Omar Abdullah as J&K Chief Minister and HD Kumaraswamy in full control of the party in Karnataka - Farooq and Deve Gowda have found reasons to prepare for a fresh innings at the Centre.
Farooq has decided to take charge of the National Conference that will tie up with the Congress in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls. Deve Gowda, who suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the BJP in last year’s assembly elections, has reasons to rejoice with the results of the by-poll for over half-a-dozen seats, which proved he is still a force to reckon with in the southern State. Congress would surely like Deve Gowda to be on its side.
But the Grand Old party of India has its own problem, further down South. Former Kerala Chief Minister and veteran Congressman K Karunakaran, ‘leader’ to his supporters, has been giving sleepless nights to his party leaders ever since the Congress went ahead with making AK Antony as the Chief Minister. His antics of leaving the party to form the Democratic Indira Congress, only to merge it later with NCP and then leave it to rejoin the Congress, have left the Congress perplexed. It can now never hazard a guess when it comes to the Kerala veteran. But at the same time it also cannot do away with him.
Their age notwithstanding, the grand old men of Indian politics continue to register their presence in the billion-strong nation, over 65 per cent of which is below 35 years of age and half of it below 25 years. Its time for the voters to SPEAK OUT
where are the jobs?
Last night, I had a call from the ‘latest victim’ of global recession’s impact on Indian media. My panicked friend is desperately searching for a job because the worth many million USD newspaper company for which he worked for over a decade is no more “capable” of paying him the “peanuts” that this journalists had been getting for long. I am now looking for a suitable rehabilitation for my friend when every door is shut and every resume is going into the dustbin. We are the flag bearers of the same media that created a hue and cry of sorts when Jet Airways and many other private airlines decided to cut down on their losses by taking the retrenchment route. Airline can’t kick out their employees; media houses can, of course. After all there is no one who will speak out in the favour of victims. All those who drew some kind of a mileage out of the outrage against airlines’ decision have suddenly developed cold feet when “pillars of the fourth estate” are collapsing. It should be of no surprise if many more journalist friends of ours are found searching for jobs in coming days. Choice is yours. Prepare for the worse to knock at your door or SPEAK OUT.
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