Gorakhpur conspiracy
There are two conspiracy theories about the Gorakhpur loss that are afloat. Trouble is, they are mutually exclusive. If one is true, the other cannot be. One is that Yogi Adityanath himself sabotaged the BJP’s chances because the party had imposed a candidate who was not his man and had nothing to do with the Gorakhnath ashram—and Gorakhpur has not had a Lok Sabha MP unconnected to the ashram since the late 1980s.
The other theory is that the Modi-Shah duo themselves wanted to trim Yogi to a size a couple of notches below because he was getting too big. A related theory is that the RSS—conscious that Yogi is not from its stables, and never too comfortable about his independent Hindu Yuva Vahini—too did not go all out during campaigning. The point is, none of these theories need to be true, even if they have elements that reflect the complex equations that exist. What happened, a minister of Yogi intones: “Akhilesh and Mayawati took us by surprise!”
Priyanka at plenary
From the décor to the hi-tech stage, Priyanka Gandhi oversaw every little detail of the Congress plenary session at the Indira Gandhi Stadium. But no one saw her. She came to pitch in at 3 in the morning, worked through the wee hours and left at 8, before the AICC delegates could catch her. How each festoon and poster of her brother Rahul Gandhi was to be displayed was decided by her. The result was an uncluttered venue, without the baggage of the past.
The dais was empty, except for the rostrum in the centre stage and the Congress hand symbol in the background. No leaders on the stage, no sitting on the floor mattresses. Everyone was in the auditorium, facing the stage. As for the Congress’ pantheon, well, their blow-ups were on the outer walls, like frescos—Gandhi with Tagore in Santiniketan, Nehru and Sardar Patel sharing a laugh, Nehru and Abul Kalam Azad seemingly exchanging a word, at another Congress plenary….
Himanta put in his place?
Now that Himanta Biswa Sarma has opened up the north-east for the BJP, roping in the old Congress turncoats, are his wings being clipped? So say some insiders. Lest Sarma foist his old friend from the GOP on to the CM’s chair in Tripura, the PM let his choice be known even while campaigning. He pointedly told Biplab Deb in front of Sarma and a few others: “You’ll be our CM—be ready’’! All attempts at string-pulling by Sarma were scotched thereafter.
Rajini and Haasan
Every move of Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan is being closely watched by the current stakeholders of Tamil Nadu politics. The talk is, the two are a study in contrast. Haasan is moving too fast on the scene, Rajini is too slow. Distinctly right of the centre, Rajini’s politics may not work with the Tamil voters. Neither is Haasan’s friendship with Pinarayi Vijayan finding favour. Or is it “wishful thinking’’ by those who don’t want them as challengers?
Why TDP quit
The parting of ways between TDP and BJP was expected. Chandrababu Naidu became increasingly suspicious that BJP was ready to sup with Jagan Mohan Reddy, and the PM was weary of his repeated demands for more Central funds. Added to that was his wish for a governor of his choice. Babu’s troubles started with Venkaiah Naidu’s elevation as Vice President. His hotline to Delhi snapped. Other Central ministers were curious to know what happened to the MoU he signed with Singapore, China and Japan for building his brand new capital, Amaravati.
Santwana Bhattacharya
The author is Political Editor, TNIE.
Email: santwana@newindianexpress.com