Many want to become Bharatiya Janata Party’s Hariram nai, the prison barber in Sholay who doubled as the jailor’s pet and tattler. Some informants are already establishing contact with the party. And such political characters can benefit the BJP. A central minister even hinted that in his electoral area, someone from the opposition party is teaming up with the BJP and causing trouble for the opposition party’s leader. There are many vacancies, and after the elections, there’s hope for growth as well. Aspirants have been sending over their biodata.
Super spy
Another such informer has revealed that in the days to come India might have a Chief Intelligence Officer (CIO). Reportedly, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) will work under the CIO’s leadership. The need for this is being felt for several reasons. Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had established a Central Economic Intelligence Bureau when he came to power. The organisation was meant to gather information related to economic offenses but in reality, it was the boss of all intelligence agencies.
Deols are out
Bollywood actor Dharmendra has been an MP. His wife and popular actor Hema Malini is a member of Parliament. Dharmendra’s son Sunny Deol is also an MP. In the constituencies where a suitable candidate couldn’t be found, the Deol family easily fit in. But will the family not contest elections this time? Reportedly, when a party colleague asked Malini about it, like a loyal BJP member, she responded saying that she would follow the party’s orders. Deol has also declared his decision to not contest elections on the party’s forum and publicly as well.
Ifs and buts
It has been heard that former Chief Minister of Bihar, Lalu Yadav, is currently reading Bunch of Thoughts by MS Golwalkar. Using red and yellow highlighters, he is marking some bits in the book that are politically favourable to his party. Lalu argues that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is against reservations and that it’s mentioned in the book. When a person close to the RJD chief asked him why he was colour-coding the book red and yellow, he responded, saying “Dhatt burbak!” The colours will help him identify where he should praise the BJP and where he should criticise it in his speeches. However, there are a lot of ifs and buts regarding his speeches — when will he address the public and how?
Tejashwi’s style
Talking of Yadavs, Tejashwi Yadav was in New Delhi recently and met the Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari who had Tejashwi take a test drive of a car powered by hydrogen. Not just that, he also told Tejashwi that when he visits in September, he might get a chance to test drive a car powered by fuel-grade ethanol.
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Get in line
Some BJP leaders had defeated prominent leaders of opposing parties in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Among these MPs, there are some enthusiastic individuals who are confidently saying that this time they will win with even stronger margins and opposition leaders won’t dare to run for those seats ever again. They have been cautioned by the BJP to control themselves because there are more important leaders in the party to thrash the opposition. And first they need to secure their ticket.
I.N.D.I.A media committee
In the upcoming meeting of the I.N.D.I.A alliance, scheduled for 31 August and 1 September in Mumbai, the logo and theme song will be launched by the opposition parties. Both are ready for release. However, opposition leaders are more excited about the media committee. Almost everyone wants to be part of it. It will be a bit difficult for those who keep expressing their opinions on every subject. It is being said that those who get overexcited about matters unrelated to them won’t find a place on the committee.
This means that they will only have to talk on the topics decided by the alliance and that too only as per the official stand. And who in the alliance will decide on the official stand has also been decided.
Bharat Agrawal is Executive Director, Dainik Bhaskar Group, and a columnist.
By special arrangement with Dainik Bhaskar.