BJP may push own candidate once Harivansh’s RS term is over

Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh | PTI

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The new deputy chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, Harivansh, has less than two years’ tenure. His term in the House ends in April 2020. The BJP proposed his name ostensibly to mollify Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar who has been upset with the ally for its reluctance to part with more seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Roping in Kumar also helped as he used his goodwill to get votes from non-NDA parties as well. But the grapevine has it that the BJP opted for Harivansh as a stop-gap arrangement. By the time the JD(U) leader’s term in the Rajya Sabha ends, the BJP will have more numbers in the House and the Bihar assembly elections will also be over. The saffron party can then push for a BJP man in deputy chairperson’s chair.

Ajit Pawar join Maratha protests outside uncle’s residence in Baramati

During the Maharashtra bandh called by Maratha leaders Thursday, protesters sat on an agitation outside National Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar’s house in Baramati, about 110 km from Pune. This in itself was significant considering that the NCP is seen as a party of the Marathas and Pawar a strong leader of the community. But what made the situation even more striking was that an hour into the protest, Pawar’s nephew, Ajit Pawar — former deputy CM of Maharashtra — entered the scene and joined the protesters in their agitation outside his uncle’s home. He even joined the agitating Marathas in raising slogans demanding reservations. Further, with both Sharad Pawar and his daughter Supriya Sule, a parliamentarian from Baramati, being out of town, Ajit Pawar held discussions with the protesters and accepted a written memo of their demands before leaving the spot.

In poll-bound Haryana, ‘CBI’ stands for Congress, BJP & INLD

In the latest addition to the list of acronyms Haryana politicians have been coining, Aam Admi Party leader Naveen Jaihind has warned voters about the ‘CBI’: “The CBI means Congress, BJP and INLD. These parties have looted the state and people will stay away from them in these assembly polls.” Earlier, former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had labelled GST as ‘gayee sarkaar tumhari’ (your government is gone) and his successor, Manohar Lal Khattar, coined a slogan from the abbreviation for the controversial Sutlej-Yamuna Link. SYL, Khattar said, was ‘Satta yun loonga (Will win power through this)’.

Chalo Jeete Hain a must-watch movie for BJP leaders

After BJP leaders were shown the new propaganda movie on Narendra Modi, Chalo Jeete Hain, party president Amit Shah began a meeting of MPs with the all important question that India wanted to know: How many of you watched the film Chalo Jeete Hain? Raise your hands. The MPs actually raised their hands, even though it felt like a ‘viva’ for some. Shah asked the rest to watch it as soon as possible.

But the homework didn’t end there. Each of the MPs have been given a pen drive containing the 32-minute film about a young boy called Narendra who worked hard to collect money and help a poor Dalit boy buy school uniform. The MPs have been told to show the movie to the voters in their constituencies — through video vans — and friends who visit them at home. One MP actually congratulated the BJP top leadership after watching the movie saying “Ab Dalit vote hamare haath mein (Now, we will get all Dalit votes)”.

BJP MPs in Uttar Pradesh already on poll mode

BJP MPs from Uttar Pradesh have started making campaign plans for 2019. Their sense of alarm ahead of the Lok Sabha elections next year has been amplified mainly by the two factors: the prospect of SP/BSP alliance and Yogi’s poor implementation record. The Dalit-Muslim consolidation votes can mar the prospects of several sitting MPs from the BJP. “We have to ensure that the two communities don’t come together to defeat us. And that can only happen if in the coming months, we don’t display an aggressive brand of Hindutva,” said an MP.

“But who will tell the top leadership and ministers who are all (RSS) pracharaks at heart?” the MP wondered.

“The Dalits and Muslims don’t have to vote for the BJP. We just have to ensure they don’t vote against the BJP,” he added. Another BJP leader said that Yogi has released funds to repair roads too late, when the monsoon is already underway. This should have been released in December. Yogi, despite all the propaganda about his administrative skills of running the Gorakhnath Math, is unable to get work done by the bureaucrats.

(Contributors: D.K. Singh, Manasi Phadke, Chitleen K. Sethi & Kumar Anshuman)