Come elections, it is time for leaks and planting stories in the media. The Mini-General Election is proof of this. Earlier, it was the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which was often accused of managing the media, with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) dubbed as the Dirty Tricks Department by the Congress.
Now, it seems, the Congress, too, has perfected the art of manipulation.
The BJP is wondering how to counter the Congress, which is feeding the media with the new revelations of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Dayanand Pandey, Lt Col Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya. News that supari was given for murdering a few RSS leaders perturbed the BJP leadership initially, but now it is going all out to target the Congress. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s telephonic conversation with Leader of Opposition L K Advani on his statement on ATS functioning and the consequent briefing by the National Security Advisor M K Narayanan and the IB Director has vindicated the stand of the BJP that the Congress is on the defensive.
BJP misses Atal
Former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, who has been a virtual mascot of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh and its reincarnation, the BJP, is unlikely to take part in the election campaign.
Vajpayee, who was active in politics since the first general election in 1952 and has been a parliamentarian for five decades from 1957 is not keeping well. It is unfortunate for the BJP for wherever he travelled in the past, he was heard with rapt attention. His wit and rhetoric made his meetings a big hit with the masses. Another of his contemporaries, the former Vice- President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, is also spending a quiet life, although he insists that he has not yet retired from active politics. Both of them meet over lunch every fortnight, recalling bygone days. But the former Vice-President is an unhappy man nowadays, peeved over the manner in which his arch-rival, Janardhan Singh Gehlot, who defeated him way back in 1972, was admitted into the party with great fanfare, without Shekhawat being consulted. Even as Rajasthan bristles with pre-election activity, Shekhawat, thrice chief minister of that state, remains aloof.
Sonia’s health
The absence of Congress President Sonia Gandhi from the campaign in Chhattisgarh elections raised several eyebrows, leading to speculation that the party was not sure of winning the elections. Sonia Gandhi is known to select only the winning seats for her campaign appearances. So, when Sonia showed up in the elections on the last day of the campaign, everyone wondered whether she was paving the way for Rahul Gandhi to prove his mettle.
It later transpired that Sonia, a chronic asthma patient, had been afraid to venture out because the weather had changed and she feared it could have taken atoll on her health. She has been advised to remain indoors whenever there is a change in the weather. On the New Year’s eve, Sonia was hospitalised in the Ganga Ram Hospital for pneumonia, while her children, Rahul and Priyanka, along with her mother and sister, were holidaying.