Bharatiya Janata Party president J.P. Nadda strictly avoids the four ‘cs’ in his diet: chini (sugar), chiknai (oily food), chawal (rice) and chapati. His reasons are purely health-related. And his personal aides make sure, on a daily basis, that his meal does not contain any of these four. However, recently, when he was served a sumptuous meal during his Gujarat tour, he had dhokla and also some fafda–jalebi. This means he had, what included all that was ‘forbidden’ — oil, sugar and grains. When Nadda’s aides complained about it to the server, he had only one thing to say — the letter ‘c’ is neither in dhokla nor in jalebi. Or, for that matter, in fafda. So, the food was as per the ‘required standards’. Naddaji had no options. So he had to eat what was served.
Nadda Vs Thakur competition
Preparations are now in full swing to celebrate eight years of the Narendra Modi government. The entire organisation (BJP), as well as the government, is trying to make this programme as grand as possible. Yet, both of them are not working on it together. Rather, both are planning it separately. What, then, happens to the coordination between the organisation and the government? Here’s the answer: when it is a matter of ‘mutual competition’ between the two, where does the question of coordination arise? And this ‘competition’ also has two poles —the information and broadcasting ministry and the BJP’s own cadre. The responsibility, on behalf of the I&B ministry has been entrusted to Anurag Thakur, while Nadda, as the head of the organisation, is shouldering it on the other side. But there is a twist to this tale of ‘coordination’ and that is both gentlemen hail from Himachal Pradesh where assembly elections are due later this year. Both are prominent faces in the state, hence there is some fierce competition between them too. So, there are a lot of ‘implications’ the success of this programme holds.
Chirag and sons
Two ‘chirags’ keep heating up Bihar’s politics in their own way and capacity. Tej Pratap Yadav, Lalu Yadav’s elder chasm-o-chirag (beloved son), was so hurt by his own party, technically his younger brother’s party, that he bluffed about resigning from the Rashtriya Janata Dal. Carrying his resignation in hand, he met his parents Lalu and Rabri Devi. So far so good, but Tej Pratap dropped another bombshell by revealing to Lalu that he had been offered a plum post in Chirag Paswan’s party. The development shocked even Chirag Paswan who himself is hoping to get a position in RJD by merging his ragtag outfit with the latter.
What’s on the menu for Mayawati?
A fresh incident has emerged from the ‘restaurant’ of political postings. The waiters were heard speculating that Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati might be the next presidential candidate. But behenji has made it crystal clear: only the post of chief minister or prime minister will suffice. Then she was asked if she would like to become the Vice President. If someone has no interest in becoming the President, why will they bother with the Vice President’s post?
The answer to this piece of the political puzzle is that one can still dream about the possibility of becoming CM or PM after holding the post of the Vice President, but not after becoming the President. Now wait until some new rumour is served. Or who knows if the lunchtime itself will end and speculations continue.
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Too many guests in UP BJP
‘Guests’ are dominating the Uttar Pradesh BJP. So much so that the house has become too small to fit everyone. Members of the house are fed up. ‘Guests’ have occupied the larger ‘bedrooms’ of house BJP and government, by proving themselves loyal and capable. BJP workers have been confined to the verandah. In some districts, new MLAs are those who switched to BJP from the other parties. The cabinet’s facing a similar situation. Half-a-dozen cabinet faces originally don’t belong to the BJP. This is being discussed also because the party’s state president appointment is due and the structure of the organisation has to be rebuilt. Elections for the Rajya Sabha and the Legislative Council are also round the corner. This will be followed by the Lok Sabha elections. The discussion among those sitting in verandahs is slowly turning into concerns.
Anti-corruption bro
Rajasthan Anti Corruption Bureau has ‘touched’ an officer who wielded much power during the previous BJP regime. ACB has a situation on their hands that’s filled with chaos and tension. Everyone is surprised. But officers close to the present dispensation, who were clandestinely accepting bribes with some fear, are happy now. When you talk to them, their answers are filled with laughter: ha ha ha, he he he.
Now, ‘the south leaders’ files’
After the grand success of The Kashmir Files, a film titled Adipurush is set to be released soon, in which South’s superstar Prabhas is playing the lead role. The film promises to expose the wheeling-dealing of some of the most prominent politicians of South India. Work on at least half-a-dozen similar movies is also in progress.
Bharat Agrawal is Executive Director, Dainik Bhaskar Group, and a columnist.
By special arrangement with Dainik Bhaskar and translated by Ram Lal Khanna from the original in Hindi.
(Edited by Srinjoy Dey)