War of birthday banners
Deputy CM Sachin Pilot’s birthday celebrations turned into a grand show of strength in Jaipur. The Pink City was filled with posters and hoardings wishing Pilot, who is also the Rajasthan Congress president. Locked in a bitter tussle for supremacy with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Pilot’s smiling posters sprang up in every nook and corner of Jaipur on September 7. The Gehlot camp soon found a way to hit back. Days after Pilot’s birthday, it was Gehlot loyalist, Mahesh Joshi’s birthday. Once again, the city was flooded with posters and hoardings.
Poonia’s appointment exposes internal feud
The appointment of Satish Poonia as the Rajasthan BJP chief has brought forth the internal rift within the party’s state unit in Jaipur. Poonia’s elevation has ruffled the Vasundhara Raje camp. Poonia has a strong RSS backing and belongs to the anti-Raje camp. Party sources said Raje was not taken into confidence while deciding Poonia’s appointment. No wonder then that, Raje was conspicuous by her absence though she is reported to have congratulated Poonia over the phone and through a tweet. After her loss in the Assembly polls, Raje has been sidelined from active politics. Poonia’s appointment as the state BJP chief is a clear reflection that the BJP high command is in no mood to accommodate Raje.
Conventional narratives on tawaifs
Jaipur’s Write Circle organised a chat-session between noted documentary filmmaker Saba Dewan and senior IAS officer Mugdha Sinha. The session was on the nuances that conventional narratives have altered or wilfully rewritten about tawaifs. The session began with a question on what inspired Saba to choose her protagonist through which she drew everyone’s attention towards the life struggle of tawaifs. Saba, who has explored all aspects of their life, said: “If we are talking about the great Aryans and the pure culture, tawaifs were a blot even there, while Gandhi saw them as victims the Hindu nationalists saw them as vampires.”
Sonia Gandhi meets Gehlot and Pilot
A dressing down by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi seems to be working wonders in Rajasthan. Last week, Sonia held separate meetings with CM Ashok Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot, who have been feuding, and advised them to ensure greater coordination. Sonia is believed to have made a serious bid to check the factional fight between the two Rajasthan leaders. The impact of Sonia advising the two not to say anything critical of each other in public was seen the very next day at the launch of Jan Soochna, an information portal. Gehlot and Pilot were seen together at a public function after a long gap.