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| Congress' Leadership Woes | | | Hari Shankar Vyas
Leaders of the Congress may claim otherwise but it is a fact that the party is divided on the names of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. Loyalists of both leaders are openly coming forward. Apart from Sonia and Rahul, some leaders are also showing loyalty to Priyanka. In this category, maximum leaders are those who are against Rahul. Some of Priyanka supporters are those who are away from Delhi.
However, more than half a dozen big leaders of the Congress want Sonia to continue as party president and Rahul to maintain status quo. Four leaders have openly supported Sonia's name: Capt Amarinder Singh, Veerappa Moily, Ambika Soni and Sandeep Dikshit. Sources say that some days ago, Janardan Dwivedi and Motilal Vora had met Sonia and requested her to continue as party president. Ahmed Patel also wants Rahul's enthronement to be deferred for some time.
On the other hand, supporters of Rahul are also in the do or die mood. His unofficial political advisor Digvijaya Singh wants that Rahul must be given charge of party president. Kamal Nath, the longest serving Lok Sabha MP of the Congress, is also in support of Rahul. Other supporters of Rahul are DPCC president Ajay Maken, general secretary PC Chacko, BK Hari Prasad and Jairam Ramesh. Almost all young leaders want that Rahul should lead the party.
MULAYAM'S DILEMMA
Lalu Prasad Yadav has announced the merger of his party RJD. He is in-principle ready to disintegrate the RJD. He has said that there is a need for one flag and one symbol to stop the BJP. Nitish Kumar has also announced merger of his party. It means both parties of VP Singh's Janata Dal are ready for a new entity after doing away with their separate existence. But the largest party of the Janata family ie the Samajwadi Party is still mulling over the merger. Sources say Mulayam Singh is fully ready. He has a dream of becoming all India leader and Prime Ministerial candidate. That is why he tried to motivate his leaders in a closed-door meeting. But many of the leaders are not ready to do away with the party. So, the merger of SP is not final yet.
It is said that in the first phase, both parties of Bihar will merge and a new party will be formed. In the next phase, SP will merge into the newly formed party. The other three parties of the Janata family - JDS, INLD and Samajwadi Janata Party - can merge with Bihar's new party, but it is said that the leaders of these parties are waiting for Mulayam's decision. Since only Mulayam is authorised for the merger and if he doesn't merge his party then what will be the benefit for others after the merger?
DIFFICULTIES ON LAND BILL
In the national executive at Bengaluru, the BJP decided that there would be a big campaign to make people aware of the changes made in the Land Acquisition Bill. The Government and the BJP are claiming that the Congress and other Opposition parties are spreading confusion about the Bill. The Government and the party say that there will be an all-round attempt to dispel the confusion. But sources say that despite all the attempts, the Government is apprehensive of getting the Bill passed.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu said the Government will not make any changes in the Bill and is ready for any consequence. It is obvious that the Government's attempt to make consensus with Opposition parties is not bearing any fruit. The problem has increased more because the BSP has also announced opposition to the Bill. On the other hand, merger of the Janata family has become definite, so there is least probability that SP will support the Bill. Managers of the Government have calculated that 68 MPs of Congress, 30 MPs of unified Janata family, 10 of BSP, 12 of TMC, four of DMK and 11 of the Left will vote against the Bill, and this in total would be 135 MPs. Apart from these, at least six nominated MPs, and one each from the JMK and Kerala Congress will also oppose the Bill, so the option of a Joint Session is possible only to get the Bill passed.
CHANGES IN BJP soon?
There has been speculation about changes in the BJP organisation for the past six months. Right after the Cabinet expansion of Narendra Modi, it was being said that Amit Shah would make changes in his team because many of his office-bearers had become ministers at the Centre and States. Now, it is considered that after the second Cabinet expansion of the Modi Government, changes will be made in the organisational set-up. This has given rise to speculation that some more office-bearers might become a part of the Government. So, Shah is waiting for the Cabinet expansion so that he can form a new team.
Though, it is being said that only one or two new faces from the BJP can be included in the next Cabinet expansion. Sources say that one leader each from Maharashtra, UP, and Bihar could be included. In fact, minister from Maharashtra, Rao Saheb Danve, has become party president of Maharashtra, and election is scheduled in Bihar. Two or three ministers can be included from the alliance partners. Either Anil Desai or Anand Rao Adsul from Shiv Sena can become ministers. The PDP is in a dilemma but if a decision is taken then Mehbooba Mufti can become a minister. Despite all the efforts, Ramdas Athavle can't become minister and the TRS will probably not become a part of the NDA due to opposition of the TDP.
SUSHIL MODI VS GIRIRAJ SINGH
There are speculations over the probable changes in the Modi Government. Minister of State for Small and Medium Scale Industries Giriraj Singh, who is in controversy due to his statements, is in the high-risk zone. However, elections are scheduled in Bihar at the end of this year and the BJP needs him. So, the national leaders want him to continue. But leaders from the Sushil Modi group are trying to ensure his exit. It is being said that for this, Sushil Modi has roped in some leaders from Delhi. Sources say that the news of promotion of MoS Railways, Manoj Sinha, was planted as per this strategy. It was said that if the bhumihar leader Sinha was promoted, then Giriraj could be shown the door. Though the leaders of Bihar BJP are countering this strategy and saying that Sinha is from UP and it will be difficult to get the votes of bhumihars of Bihar on his name.
After the so-called racial comment of Giriraj, Amit Shah talked to him over phone and advised him to resist from making such comments. Apparently, Arun Jaitley also called and admonished him. It is being said that pressure was put on Giriraj to resign. In Bangalore also, Jaitley said that such statements put a big question mark on the good work done by the Government. The final decision will be taken by Shah and Jaitley. To appease the Modi supporters in Bihar, there is a discussion to take Ashwini Chaubey into the Cabinet. This must be noted that Giriraj and Chaubey both supported Modi for Prime Ministerial candidate when they were a part of the JDU alliance.
BJP'S BIHAR STRATEGY
In the BJP national executive at Bengaluru, BJP president Amit Shah expressed a lot of expectations over Bihar. He said that Nitish was not going to get anything. The BJP is confident of its victory in Bihar. But the party is in a dilemma whether it should announce the CM candidate or not. The all-accepted leader in the State is Sushil Kumar Modi. But there is no consensus on his name inside and outside the party. He has been leader of the Opposition for more than a decade and deputy CM for eight years. So, there is anti-incumbency on his name at various levels. There are also allegations against him that he has not allowed the forward leadership to move ahead and has always had some favourite leaders. That is the reason why top leadership of the BJP is in a dilemma.
Sources say that almost all big leaders of Bihar BJP are against him. Except Radha Mohan Singh, nobody will support him. Leaders like Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Shahnawaz Hussain and Giriraj Singh are against Sushil Modi. In the State, leaders like CP Thakur, Ashwini Chaubey, Nand Kishore Yadav, Chandra Mohan Rai and Amrendra Pratap Singh are his opponents. Some of the other big leaders like Ravi Shankar Prasad, Shatrughan Sinha, Ram Kripal Yadav are not supporters of any particular group or leader. As far as alliance partners are concerned, Ram Vilas Paswan will support him and Upendra Kushwaha will stay neutral.
(Courtesy @dailypioneer.com) |
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