The word “Pappu” is unparliamentary. But eating watermelon in Chandni Chowk’s Chat Wali Gali is not.
Recently, a picture showed Rahul Gandhi holding a watermelon in a Chandni Chowk street famous for snacks. Some BJP people were quick to comment “Pappu” under the picture even though the word has long been declared unparliamentary. What action could Gandhi take on social media? The media strategist is a food scientist, but the food policy maker doesn’t know the media.
Costly tweets
Who has to pay how much? This question is doing the rounds in BJP after Twitter monetised the blue tick. For political parties, it is going to cost Rs 86,000 and it’s not up for negotiation. Since BJP has multiple wings—Yuva Morcha, Mahila Morcha, Minority Morcha, etc—it’s difficult to calculate who will pay what share. So, the party members are trying to work out a formula—more the tweets by a wing, more the expense paid by them.
Saffron tick
It would be better if the blue tick is replaced with saffron tick. This is what a Sangh Parivar member told a BJP politician. The logic behind the idea was that if one has to pay Twitter for the blue tick, why not pay a little for a saffron tick instead. This will help identify BJP-RSS people on Twitter. But nobody else should get it. The politician listening to the suggestion is now thinking about getting admission in primary school.
The British lord
People leave from Bihar’s Sultanganj for Baidyanath Dham on foot or on Kanwar Yatra. Instead of making that journey, a BJP fan took off on foot the PM’s office from Sultanganj. This fan named Pankaj Kumar Paswan demands that a statue of Lord Buddha be brought from London to India. The statue is dressed in traditional British attire, he says.
Also read: MK Stalin is in troubled waters—DMK files, Factories Act, VP Singh statue
Anna VP!
These days, former Prime Minister VP Singh is more famous in Tamil Nadu than Uttar Pradesh. His statue is being built in Chennai, as announced by Chief Minister MK Stalin. What is the political significance of Hindi-speaking Singh’s statue on the Dravidian land? Stalin is said to be running a social justice campaign and the unveiling of the statue in Chennai is a useful signal. The statue of politician Jagjivan Ram is already erected in another South Indian state—Andhra Pradesh. The BJP is happy that the Dravidian card of the DMK has started to weaken. And the reservation card has always worked in the state.
It’s Rajnath Singh on call
Former Union Minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain received Eid wishes from many people. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visits Hussain’s house every year on the festival but this time he was infected with Covid. So, Singh wished Hussain on a phone call. Due to the infection, Singh had a sore throat and he didn’t sound like himself. Hussain was happy to hear from him. But when others sitting next to him heard Singh’s voice, he started convincing them that it was the defence minister speaking.
Ajit Pawar in BJP
There’s an on-going buzz that Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) Ajit Pawar will join BJP. But the party members are raising questions about Pawar’s role in the BJP. The government is already functioning smoothly. In such a situation, even if Pawar comes in, he might become deputy chief minister, Devendra Fadnavis will then become the chief minister and CM Eknath Shinde will be promoted to the role of central minister. Things are not finalised yet. But discussions are going on about the inclusion of Pawar, Fadnavis and Shinde in the central cabinet.
All in the same boat
Every Congress leader has been dreaming of being part of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) for many months now. The rituals of recommendation etc. are all done. Now the Parikrama ceremony is going on. A prominent leader recently had a pleasant meeting with the party president but there was no talk of CWC. Then the politician met an eminent general secretary and expressed his pain. The secretary asked him to meet the president concerning the matter. The politician replied that he has already had that meeting but it didn’t work for his anxiety. The secretary then told him to make it work, “That’s what I do.”
Musical war
Ahead of Uttar Pradesh local body election, the BJP released a video song targeting former Chief Minister Akhilesh Singh. In its reply, Singh’s Samajwadi Party (SP) made an even more attacking song against BJP and even released it on social media. This political spat started when SP’s Shahjahanpur mayor candidate joined BJP.
Earlier, another SP politician from Prayagraj had joined BJP. Since then, the state’s popular industrial development minister has levelled serious allegations against his party members.
Bharat Agrawal is Executive Director, Dainik Bhaskar Group, and a columnist.
By special arrangement with Dainik Bhaskar, edited by Ratan Priya.