Congress may be leading the charge against the G-RAM-G Bill, but Rahul Gandhi’s no-show during the Lok Sabha debate has left party corridors buzzing — and not in a good way. With the Leader of the Opposition in Germany, visuals of him inspecting BMW cars and bikes in Munich on the very day of the debate sharpened the unease. The BJP predictably pounced on the optics, but the piercing murmurs were within the INDIA bloc itself. Allies and Congress leaders privately felt that Rahul should have anchored the resistance against what they see as the dismantling of a UPA-era flagship law. The debate lacked punch, admitted one insider, pointing to the contrast with the Rajya Sabha, where Mallikarjun Kharge led a far more muscular Opposition attack.
The hunted teaches the hunter
Probationer IPS officers at Hyderabad’s SVPNPA were in for an unexpected reality check when the Academy hosted a surprise guest — surrendered Maoist leader Pulluri Prasada Rao, better known as Chandranna. A central committee member until his surrender on October 28, Chandranna turned a routine Left-Wing Extremism module into an intense, no-holds-barred dialogue. Trainees grilled him on questions they had only seen in manuals — funding networks, forest logistics, cadre movement and survival strategies. Chandranna answered candidly, laying bare the Maoist organisational spine. One remark lingered long after the session ended. “Maoists never targeted police officials who were upright and stood for the cause of the people,” he told them. A source said the words “hit the minds of young officers” — six weeks after Chandranna laid down arms.
Nitin Nabin’s ‘dahi-chura’ moment
The joke doing the rounds in BJP circles says it all — “Bihar in BJP or BJP in Bihar?” Ever since five-time Patna MLA Nitin Nabin was named Working National President, the party headquarters has worn a distinctly Bihari flavour. When Nabin arrived to take charge, it wasn’t luggage but dahi-chura and makhana-kheer that stole the show, served generously to workers and media alike. BJP beat reporters, often grumbling about access, were seen happily digging in. “At least with Nitin ji, dahi-chura se hamara bhi swagat hua,” quipped a journalist. The symbolism peaked when Amit Shah, accompanied by Dharmendra Pradhan, stood to receive Nabin. “Esi ko bhag kahte hain,” smiled workers, spotting fate — and hope — at play.
Ram ji then, G-RAM-G now
For decades, the BJP’s most potent mobilisation cry was “Ram Ji”. Now, party strategists are dusting off that playbook for a new acronym — “G-RAM-G”. As Opposition protests intensify over the alleged dilution of MGNREGA, the BJP is preparing a nationwide outreach to sell its revamped rural employment scheme. Party sources say the focus will be on explaining amendments and countering what they call Congress-spread “misinformation”. “If not clarified at once, fake messages can cause electoral disasters,” warned a senior BJP leader. With Congress planning mass protests over what it calls the “ending” of a Mahatma Gandhi-named law, the saffron party wants to flip the narrative — insisting G-RAM-G strengthens, not weakens, rural livelihoods. After January 14, insiders say, the campaign may mirror the sustained Ram temple mobilisation — development replacing devotion.