Straws in the wind: Operation Lotus leader next Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry?
Op Lotus leader to Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry?
Everybody loves a good rumour, especially in times of great political upheaval. Amid talks and huge speculation in the satta bazaar on who will be king, and who the kingmaker on May 23, there are small nuggets of ‘credible’ information which leak out, but are bypassed for bigger and juicier inputs by news-hungry journalists.
The grapevine is that former IPS officer and feisty Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry Kiran Bedi, whose term is coming to an end, will reportedly be replaced by an important BJP leader from South of the Vindhyas, who is well past his retirement age. But this leader is “indispensable” for the party and needs to be rewarded for his single-handed contribution and services to the party and Operation Lotus!
But like the rest, this story will also have to wait for the D-Day of Indian politics, barely a fortnight away.
MLA Patil replies to #Ellidiyappa
After remaining virtually incommunicado for weeks together, Raichur MLA Shivaraj Patil finally surfaced in Raichur. And he came out of oblivion only when people trolled him for his disappearance, with the hashtag #Ellidiyappa Shivaraj Patil? In fact, his silence and guest appearances have been the topic of conversation for some time now. He was last seen in Raichur on April 25, when the public held a massive protest, demanding justice for an engineering student who had died under mysterious circumstances.
Smoked out by netizens trolling him mercilessly for vanishing after the elections, Patil met the girl’s parents. His silence on the gruesome case had also irked the masses. But there he was on Wednesday, bright as a sunflower, throwing his home open as wishes, sweets and bouquets poured in. We realised it was the MLA’s birthday, and Patil had turned into the true people’s man.
Of sins and sons
In Chincholi, the Congress seems nonplussed: how and with what does it attack this fresh-off-the-oven candidate, Dr Avinash Jadhav. The newcomer entered the Machiavellian political arena just a year ago, to help dad Umesh Jadhav, then the Congress candidate in the assembly elections.
He developed some contacts and probably took a shine to public life, a far cry from pursuing postgraduation in medicine. In fact, his exam was on Wednesday.
Since the Congress can’t really pin down the good doctor, who has no scams or scandals to his name, it’s trained its guns on the canny Jadhav Sr, who jumped ship with a rider: that if the BJP fields him from Gulbarga Lok Sabha constituency against Mallikarjun Kharge, it should give the assembly ticket for Chincholi, the seat he vacated as MLA, to his son.
For the Congress, this is enough fodder against the freshly-minted turncoat, and it is appealing to the people on this count. The sins of the father, as we know, are visited upon the son...
Siddu the new believer
It was a strange sight at the Mylarada Mylaralingeshwara Temple in Hoovinahadagali in Ballari district.
Former CM Siddaramaiah, a “rationalist’’ known for his anti-superstition stance, was holding a lemon tight, as he sought the blessings of the divine. Quite surprising, considering that not so long ago, Siddaramaiah had considered lemons, chillies and other such peculiar objects endowed with the powers to ward off evil spirits, as irrational.
But this appears to be a new Siddu, with new beliefs in pale saffron, practising soft Hindutva to boost the party’s chances. New survival tactics?