Election Mode
PM plans big changes to make BJP battle ready
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to embark on a major revamp of the government and BJP at the end of the month-long inauspicious period of Kharmas, also known as Malmas, on January 15. The Prime Minister will take four major decisions at the beginning of the penultimate year of his second term – a reshuffling of the council of ministers, party rejig, presenting a popular budget and appointment of new Governors. Sources said the PM plans to prepare the BJP for the nine state assembly elections in 2023 and the Lok Sabha election in 2024. While the ministry and party reshuffle are expected in the first month, the gubernatorial changes will come next month along with the budget. They said four prominent ministers may be removed from the ministry and drafted for work as the Prime Minister feels that the party could do better with a few more efficient hands. Ministers are being rated not only on the basis of their performance but also on the grounds of their public conduct. A high-profile BJP leader, who has not done badly as a minister, has a sword hanging over his head for his frequent public spats. Among governors, Bhagat Singh Koshiyari of Maharashtra has already written to Union home minister Amit Shah reminding him of his desire to quit public life. Terms of Assam governor Jagdish Mukhi and the Meghalaya governor Satyapal Malik have also come to end. There are some governors who have not lived up to the party’s expectations.
They will be replaced. The budget will be an important instrument to show how the government plans to use public money for the good of the people. A slew of sops may be expected for the middle class from the budget. One of the steps being talked about is the increase in the basic exemption limit. The government has already extended the free ration scheme for 81.35 crore poor people under the National Food Security Act for one year. The Prime Minister is making sure to dot the i’s and cross the t’s before elections.
Congress Jodo
Rahul’s message of mohabbat fails to move Congmen
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi hit the headlines when he described his Bharat Jodo Yatra as an attempt to open ‘nafrat ke bazar mein mohabbat ki dukan’. He has said that India has been broken at many levels under the present regime and that there is a need to bring the people together and heal the society. This is the message he is trying to spread through the yatra, he said. His message has been well received by the people who have turned out in impressive numbers all along from Kanyakumari to Delhi, where the yatra has been suspended for a week. Ironically, one group where Rahul Gandhi’s message of mohabbat does not appear to have reached is the Congressmen. Leaders of the party have refused to bury their differences and have mohabbat in their hearts for their fellow partymen even during the yatra. There are many instances of this. When the yatra reached the Delhi border, leaders decided to spend the night at Sohna in the Mewat region of Haryana. The entire arrangement for the stay was handled by former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his team. Former state Congress president Kumari Selja’s team had booked five rooms in a hotel where the party brass was staying. The rest of the hotel was booked by Hooda’s team. When Selja returned late in the night after the day’s yatra, she was shocked to learn that her booking had been cancelled. After an hour of argument, she had to drive to Gurugram to spend the night. Her supporters are blaming Hooda for the denial of rooms. Rahul’s yatra is now set to enter Uttar Pradesh. Leaders in the state have already thrown chairs at each other in a preparatory meeting.