Ajit Pawar has become the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra. That’s great. But in Maharashtra, the meaning of DCM—or deputy CM—is ‘dubo diya CM’ (drowned the CM). This isn’t the first time that Pawar has been given the deputy chair. Before this, he held the same position under four different chief ministers of Maharashtra. Once, he was appointed to the post twice in less than two months. What’s interesting is that Pawar has always been unlucky for his bosses. Ashok Chavan had to become a minister himself after appointing Pawar, Prithviraj Chavan is nowhere in politics now, and Devendra Fadnavis got demoted to deputy CM’s post. Uddhav Thackeray also made Pawar his deputy CM. You already know how that turned out.
High stakes
Meanwhile, the discussions on reshuffling in the BJP government and the party has stretched for so long that it has left many ministers and party functionaries demotivated. Even when they are working, they can’t stop worrying about when they will be fired. While some are assuming that they are going to be sent on leave, some are brimming with hope. They think their turn will come soon. With so much uncertainty in the corridors of power, sales of BP machines are bound to go up.
Whose Rao?
Sources in the BJP say that the party was keen on appropriating former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao in the Telugu-speaking states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. But after the defeat in Karnataka, the party’s morale took a hit. Taking advantage of the situation, Congress too started calling Rao their own. Now the party is even tweeting about the former PM. Some Congress members are pitching to put up Rao’s picture in party’s offices. However, BJP’s ‘Operation Rao’ is halted for the time being.
No time to rest
The month-long programme of the BJP on the achievements of the Modi government’s nine years finally came to an end on 30 June. The MPs heaved a sigh of relief, assuming there will be peace for a few days. But the feeling didn’t last long. Now discussions are underway about sending MPs to all Lok Sabha constituencies to brief people on the Uniform Civil Code. They were given two days to complete their personal work.
A sin
Being meritorious is not a merit in itself. One can even be punished. This rational currently applies to some qualified ministers of the central government. The need for such ministers is more in the party than in the government because the BJP has to win the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Meanwhile, a slogan has been raised for those who have lost their jobs—it is a crime to be qualified.
How to resign
Manipur CM N. Biren Singh’s resignation went viral. Apparently, the CM’s supporters tore his resignation letter. And there was much chatter about it. Many have asked how the letter reached Singh’s supporters. Resignation is sent to those who can accept it, not to the supporters. For now, many BJP workers are figuring out how to write a resignation letter and to whom it can be sent.
Transfer of responsibility
By the way, there are very few cases where a BJP member has resigned. Why is that? A party leader says that instead of people resigning, responsibilities get transferred here. If it is necessary for a minister or CM to resign, then he/she doesn’t send a request to the party but to the President or the Governor.
Also read: Nobody wants to join the BJP. Karnataka election result has badly hurt the party
Youth take over
To increase the participation of young people, as part of the proposed organisational rehaul of the Congress, the party has shortlisted 100 names from across the country of people below 50 years of age. All of them either have the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), Youth Congress, or All India Mahila Congress (AIMC) as their background. Only one among these will get the All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary chair and other important responsibilities.
Party members above the age of 50, who are in majority, are clearly upset about this development. However, their fears are being allied by giving the example of party president Mallikarjun Kharge, who is above 75 years of age. Those below 50 will do the work and the seniors will review it — that’s the plan. But congress members are hard to convince. They say it will be clear who is going to work and who is going to rest when the list is released. What if only young people get to work and the elders only get respect?
Bharat Agrawal is Executive Director, Dainik Bhaskar Group, and a columnist.
By special arrangement with Dainik Bhaskar, edited by Ratan Priya.