Cut, cut, cut the call. It was 1 March when someone in the BJP office suddenly started telling party workers on phone with news channels setting up live coverage of their leaders’ speeches. It so happened that BJP president JP Nadda’s speech had just started in Karnataka and the news channels were being urged to run it live. But at the same time, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath had also started speaking in the state assembly, which the channels were showing live. Now, who would dare to stop Adityanath’s live coverage for Nadda’s speech? Bulldozer Baba’s speech was also a bulldozer and the offices of most of these news channels are in Noida.
Wig mystery
Last week, BJP president JP Nadda was reported to have been horrified to see one of his colleagues wearing a wig. Now, someone has stolen that wig. It is said that the wig master had placed it on the table and had gone to the washroom when someone took it away. He is now on the lookout for a bald person or someone with short hair who might have come to his chamber to solve the mystery of the stolen wig. But what if someone wore it thinking it was a cap?
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No Hindi, no Bhojpuri
The rumours of violence against Biharis in Tamil Nadu were all over news channels and social media. And so Chief Minister MK Stalin made a slideshow in Hindi and sent it to some media houses, in which it was conveyed that Tamil Nadu is cordial and that fake videos were being circulated as Biharis being attacked. But the slide was removed when someone explained to Stalin that since the matter pertained to Bihar, it would be better to convey the message in Bhojpuri instead of Hindi. Stalin’s secretariat, which was already struggling with Hindi, was now ordered to frame the slide in Bhojpuri. Finally, Stalin thought it better to use English.
Caught in a mess
The Lokayukta officials found Rs 6 crore in cash at the house of BJP leader K Virupakshappa Madal’s son Prashanth. Opposition parties have come hard against the party over the issue. BJP members are looking for a solution because the matter was made public the same day when central ministers were giving speeches about ending corruption under the Congress rule. It was decided that they should first find out if the BJP leader was in any capacity connected to Congress or Janata Dal-Secular in the past. Their inquiry revealed that Madal has always been a protégé of BS Yediyurappa, former Karnataka CM and BJP’s biggest leader in the state. The party camp went quiet as soon as it came to know about this. It is election season and who would in their right mind want to mess with Yediyurappa?
Politics of Hanuman Chalisa
Hanuman Chalisa, a Hindu hymn devoted to Lord Hanuman, has great importance. Many veteran BJP leaders chant it daily. But a lesson from Hanuman Chalisa is troubling the party a bit. BJP leader and former Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje recently got it recited by hundreds of people at a public gathering. How much Raje gains from it is yet to be known but from a political point of view, this Chalisa is making many central ministers uncomfortable.
Himanta’s growing stature
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has emerged as a strong BJP leader. He was also the main force behind the party’s success in the Northeast. He ensured that the alliance remained stable in Nagaland. Conrad Sangma met him in Guwahati as soon as the Meghalaya election results were out. Sarma was the man of the match for Tripura as well. More rallies were held by him than by any national leader of the party. And he never hesitates to express his opinion on national subjects. Do you see what is happening?
Also read: Despite dissent, Congress decides not to hold CWC polls, empowers Kharge to nominate members
New protocol of flattery
There is a lot of indecisiveness in the Congress party. Whose chair will be saved and whose will be lost? All the leaders are running to their masters. But the irony is that the master will save them after he saves himself. A new Congress Working Committee (CWC) is soon to be formed after which many general secretaries are to be discharged. Many new faces are likely to enter the scene. And so, lobbying is on. The Congress general secretary is looking for a mentor and the mentor is also looking for a mentor. The maximum pressure to become a mentor is on party president Mallikarjun Kharge. But some leaders are saying that the parachute will fall. And so, they too are trying to become parachutes. For this, if one does not flatter the leader, but his advisors and agents, then things can work out.
RSS schooling
A minister didn’t even know the R of RSS. But he has been asked to increase his closeness with the Sangh. Mingle, understand them and familiarise himself—he was told it’s important for the future. But the minister is not able to understand where to start. He has ordered some books but most of them are in Hindi. And he does not know Hindi. What to do now?
By special arrangement with Dainik Bhaskar. Edited by Ratan Priya from the original in Hindi.