Back with a bang
As much as the Congress, its motormouth leader Digvijaya Singh too is enjoying a political revival of sorts. The Kamal Nath government has restored a government bungalow in Bhopal to him. Diggy Raja had lent a helping hand to Nath to claim the CM’s chair during that last-minute toss-up between Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia. What’s not so well-known is that Chattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel is a Diggy Raja protege. The Raja’s old faithfuls are citing his Narmada padyatra as the turnaround point for the Congress in Madhya Pradesh. The GOP indeed had a very high strike in the entire region he traversed. Now, Diggy Raja wants to set up an ashram for himself on the banks of the Narmada. But it’s no political sanyas. The RS MP may be eyeing a plum Lok Sabha ticket.
A Stalinist pronouncement
The BJP seems rather pleased with DMK chief M K Stalin’s idea of Rahul Gandhi being floated as the Opposition’s PM candidate. The saffron strategists, it seems, would like nothing better than 2019 being turned into a Modi vs RaGa contest. Realising he may have played into the BJP’s hands, Stalin tried to make amends, not without a nudge from the GOP top brass. Stalin may need to watch his steps on another front too. Rumours are that Kanimozhi is none too happy with the emergence of his businessman son-in-law Sabareesan as an interpreter and liaison man for Stalin in national politics, particularly in his dealings with the Gandhis. He’s apparently even acquired a small apartment in Delhi—and Delhi has been Kanimozhi turf for long! Sabareesan is also said to be helming another project—an image makeover for Stalin.
Calendar dispute
Who looks at the calendar to check dates anymore? The mobile, which is by now a TV, computer and camera, has long gobbled up this function. But the government’s calendars still make news—rarely does a year go by without some controversy over it. If there was a furore over PM Modi posing with the Gandhi charkha earlier, the 2019 calendar may showcase Modi sarkar’s welfare schemes. The debate is: can the government be allowed to do this in an election year? Don’t be surprised if the EC orders them to be covered up!
From campus to Parliament
Also don’t be surprised if firebrand ex-JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar enters the Lok Sabha fray from Begusarai, Bihar, on a CPI ticket. Kanhaiya is working quietly to wrest the seat, once a Left stronghold, from the BJP. The sitting MP, Bhola Singh, is an erstwhile communist. Kahaniya hopes to get the backing of the RJD-led mahagathbandhan. He’s not the only youth icon waiting to make the transition to parliamentary politics. Hardik Patel may also contest, from Rajkot, Gujarat. That leaves Shehla Rashid, the acerbic JNU student leader. Ever since she was spotted at a Congress iftaar, speculation is that she may be fielded from Kashmir.
Acronym echo
The PM’s penchant for acronyms is catching the fancy of Asia. At the third India-China media forum, Su Yuting of China Global Television expanded NAMASTE: N for good neighbourliness, A for amity, M for mutual understanding, A for ahimsa, S for sincerity, T for trust and E for echo (as in, a smile is usually met with a smile, a snarl with a snarl!). Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had exchanged a namaste with the other side at Nathula Pass after the Doklam standoff. That namaste, it seems, caught the Chinese imagination.