Maharashtra
No Defence for Fadnavis
When it was confirmed that Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar would become CM of Goa, rumours flew thick and fast that Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis would replace him in Delhi. Union Minister of Transport Nitin Gadkari then made it clear that Fadnavis will stay CM as he has performed well in the state.
Uttar Pradesh
Changing Times
Samajwadi Party minister Shivpal Yadav got a taste of changing times when his security was depleted after the BJP swept the state polls. While his gunners remain, an SUV full of security men that accompanied him whenever he was in Etawah has been withdrawn. SP minister Azam Khan has expressed his anguish on how he was “maltreated” by officials in his home district Rampur. Graded security of 12 SP netas was withdrawn a few days ago.
Lull Before the Storm
As the results of the Assembly elections were trickling in and the BJP tally was soaring, anxiety was piling up for SP. Within no time, dissent surfaced in SP rank and file. Those sulking over Mulayam’s removal as party president by son Akhilesh grabbed the opportunity to train guns at the latter and demanded he return the party’s reins to his father. “On the surface thing looking calm, but it’s the lull before storm,” said a senior SP, who indicates a blitzkrieg at the party’s National Executive on March 25.
Bihar
Lalu’s Pale Holi
RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav had planned a grand Holi at his official residence in Patna, but the Assembly poll results in Uttar Pradesh threw cold water on them. Disheartened by the BJP’s emphatic victory in UP and some other states, Lalu decided not to play Holi this time. Expecting a ‘kurta-phaad’ (tearing of clothes) Holi similar to previous years, many RJD leaders and workers thronged Lalu’s residence. His minister sons Tejaswi and Tej Pratap came out and celebrated Holi with only gulal. When his supporters insisted on celebrating Holi with Lalu, he stepped out briefly and and put pinches of gulal on their foreheads. He later told journalists he had not expected the SP-Congress alliance to lose in UP.