Election raiders Never in the history of the Election Commission has a former CBDT chairman been appointed to the panel.
Never in the history of the Election Commission has a former CBDT chairman been appointed to the panel. The tattle is, since the primary aim these days is to be the ‘first’ or be the path-breaker in every field, ex-CBDT chief Sushil Chandra’s induction into the poll panel should not have been seen as a surprise.
Till the I-T raids in the opposition-ruled states started amidst hectic electioneering, and the penny dropped. The summoning of the current CBDT chairman MC Mody and Revenue Secretary AB Pandey to Nirvachan Sadan, to dispel widespread criticism of the EC turning a blind eye to the partisan and selective raids in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, thus, has been received with scepticism, and termed an ‘eye-wash’. Well, Sushil Chandra’s background is not really unknown to the regulars of the North Block, nor is it a secret among the higher echelons in other parts of the country. One of the oft-repeated anecdotes about Chandra is that Hansmukh Adhia, during his stint as the Finance Secretary, would never fail to hold out the chair for Chandra whenever they sat for a meeting. Such was Chandra’s clout.
And before he landed himself the Election Commissioner’s job, Chandra and Mody had been closely monitoring the I-T cases against a top political family. Opposition leaders privately link these raids, particularly the one on Kamal Nath’s aide, to the thin margins the internal online surveys have thrown up for the BJP. The raids apparently are part of a ‘grand plan’ to squeeze out the election funds of the Congress and its allies.
Against Digvijaya who?
Digvijaya Singh had laughed off suggestions that Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath has tied him down to the difficult seat of Bhopal, a BJP stronghold, away from his own comfort zone in Raghogarh. Now, it appears that Digvijaya Singh is making it difficult for the BJP to find an appropriate candidate to give the senior leader a tough tight. If Uma Bharati declined a fight with her old rival, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, too, has expressed his reluctance. Simply because he’s not sure Babulal Gaur, who has a clout in the constituency, would back him. Singh, meanwhile, is already vigorously campaigning on a cycle rickshaw. Last heard, BJP is looking for a local face to take on Singh.
Kharge’s troubles
The tag of ‘tallest leader’ in Karnataka Congress is proving to be a baggage of sorts for Mallikarjun Kharge in Kalburgi. The second rung of the party, miffed with him for promoting son Priyank Kharge rather than any of them, have either switched sides to the BJP or are working to his disadvantage. The quip is that Kharge without the burden of another Kharge (Priyank) is a winning horse, but with him, he’s an overburdened one. The BJP candidate, Umesh Jadhav, a former Kharge loyalist, is considered a small fry, but the ganging up of forces is making him a strong contender. Kharge too has managed a rare feat, of engineering defections in the BJP camp. Nonetheless, it’s proving to be a hard battle.
Ram Navami greetings
Rahul Gandhi, who’s usually rather active and prompt on Twitter, missed greeting people on Ram Navami. The immediate buzz in BJP circles was that the Congress president was deterred by his advisors, lest such a greeting is not appreciated by his new constituents in Wayanad. However, the BJP chief’s insinuations on those lines, surprisingly, was countered by Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan and not the INC.
Santwana Bhattacharya
The author is Resident Editor, Bangalore, TNIE. Email:
santwana@newindianexpress.com