Calculated Risk

In Assam, Congress has taken a calculated risk by allying with All India United Democratic Front leader Badruddin Ajmal, who has a reputation for being communal. In Congress’ assessment, not having him on board meant losing 12 seats because Muslim votes in Lower Assam would have been divided. Congress thinks the Assam mandate will be a fractured one that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Himanta Biswa Sarma could exploit to his party’s advantage. But it is a mystery who did the survey that told Congress how the Ajmal factor could play out.

Speaker Imbroglio

In Maharashtra, Congress and its ally, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), are in a confrontation over the speaker of the Assembly. It has been some time since a vacancy opened up after Nana Patole resigned to become state Congress president. The deputy speaker, who is from NCP, now runs the show. Earlier, former Congress Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan was thought to be the frontrunner. But NCP leader Sharad Pawar is not very keen on him and asked for other names. Rahul Gandhi is adamant on Chavan becoming the speaker.

Development First

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari is famous for his personal relationships with non-BJP leaders, including chief ministers. The latest instance is Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren. When Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Congress formed the state government, there was a lot of speculation that BJP might try to break the alliance but Soren managed to survive. In a recent issue related to road construction, Gadkari told Soren that his ministry would release Rs 5,000 crore as soon as his state undertook the land acquisition and got the environmental clearance.

Timed Translations

A biography of Home Minister Amit Shah always sees translations timed to state elections. Originally written by Anirban Ganguly, director of the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation, it was translated into Hindi and released just before the Bihar elections. Now, the Bengali version is out just as elections are being held in West Bengal.

Charge of the MP Brigade

For the West Bengal polls, about 30 BJP Members of Parliament (MPs) are camping in the state with specific assignments. One MP from Bihar is focusing on Howrah where there are many Biharis. His job is to meet them regularly and try to get them to vote for the party. There are also Gujarati, Marathi and Marwari MPs talking to voters.

Implementation Logic

Former Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta, who is fighting his first election in West Bengal, has been a presence in Kolkata for close to a year as he got involved in state politics. On polling day in his constituency, he was heckled by ruling party activists. The popular perception of Dasgupta is, however, good and inside the party, too, he is recognised for his genteel demeanour and erudition. Dasgupta reasons that going from Rajya Sabha to the Assembly is a natural progression for him. Earlier, he took part in forming public policy. His new job could be to see how those policies could be implemented in his Assembly segment if he won.

English Preferred

While campaigning in Kolkata, Narendra Modi used a lot of Bengali words in his speeches. In Kerala, on the other hand, he spoke in English and refrained from using any Malayalam words. Some are putting it down to the Kerala election not being a priority for BJP this time. Also, in Kerala, people don’t understand Hindi that well and are literate enough to follow English. There is also speculation that earlier, a Hindi to Malayalam translator had turned Modi’s speech into a disaster in Kerala, and he didn’t want to take any chances again.

BMC Dilemma

Mumbai’s civic body Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections are imminent and Congress finds itself in a dilemma. Rahul Gandhi wants to withdraw support from the Maharashtra government but state leaders are saying Shiv Sena and NCP may get BJP support. Congress is, however, keen on going independently in the BMC election to get out of the branding of being a smaller ally of Sena and NCP. But then, they might win a negligible number of seats.

Lessons Not Learnt

BJP is very critical about the opposition whenever it disrupts Parliament. But the party did the same thing in Odisha when it gheraoed the speaker in the Assembly as the state’s Lokayukta (Amendment) Bill was being passed. Members of BJP also threw shoes, chappals and earphones in the House. The state wing of the party claims that the speaker provoked them, but
Narendra Modi is said to be unhappy with the incident. BJP President JP Nadda has also sought a report.

Brewing Crisis

Jammu and Kashmir is going to have a replica of the famous Tirumala Tirupati temple with the administration having decided to lease government land to the trust that oversees the original temple. But it might be seen as an agenda to push Hindutva in the state. So, the Government is getting intelligence agencies to study what the impact of such a decision will be.

About The Author

Jayanta Ghosal

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