Battling Ghosts

Congress functionaries and workers, particularly the dwindling tribe in Gujarat, were left mystified by Rahul Gandhi’s comments during his tour of the state. To begin with, the visit was ostensibly to start preparations for the next Assembly election due only in December 2027. There are polls before that in states such as Assam, West Bengal and Kerala that require the Congress high command’s urgent attention. His comments warning that party workers allegedly working for BJP will be cast out has deepened the puzzlement. Congress has shrunk in the state since it won 77 seats in 2017 helped by fears over implementation of GST, the Patel agitation and weaknesses in the administration after Narendra Modi’s shift to New Delhi. The recent civic polls were a wipeout for Congress and strongly underlined BJP as the sole player in the field. Rather than looking for quislings within, the Congress leader might be better advised to consider why the party fails to impress voters. In the 2022 state election, BJP crossed 50 per cent vote share and Congress fell below 30 per cent. There was a time Congress could count on a base vote of around 33-35 per cent, but no longer. Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh chimed in, claiming he was asked not to speak against RSS when campaigning in Gujarat as it would be construed as “anti-Hindu”.
Singh’s interventions have rarely served any useful purpose, even in his home state of Madhya Pradesh where his influence during the short-lived Congress government in 2018 was seen to have aided its swift downfall.

The Modi Connect

Among the women who took charge of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s social media handle on Women’s Day (March 8) was Ajaita Shah, who founded Frontier Markets, a rural-centric commerce platform. Her success in using smartphones to connect rural entrepreneurs to households is a triumph for uncomplicated thinking. Shah understood opportunities that could be unlocked through mobile phones used by people far from metros. These are green energy solutions. Her model caught the attention of governments that work with her to connect markets to communities. Shah’s microfinance initiatives reinforce Modi’s conviction about using technology to enhance governance and improve lives of common people, particularly women. Frontier Markets brings together all three pillars of Modi’s policies—technology, women and rural India.

Taking the War to DMK

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan is known for his cool demeanour. On the opening day of the Budget Session, he took DMK MPs by surprise by launching a vehement attack on the state government for agreeing to implement the National Education Policy (NEP), which envisages the three-language formula, before backtracking. He said
DMK was harming the interests of Tamil Nadu students by not implementing NEP and therefore failing to access Central funds. The Dravidian party is playing politics and doing an injustice to students, he said. Pradhan was more than halfway through his remarks before DMK benches gathered themselves and began to pour into the aisles of Lok Sabha to protest.

Adrift in the Pacific

Since his fall from grace, former IPL Czar Lalit Modi has been spotted in London off and on. Never short of beans, Modi has often taken to Twitter (X) in the past to comment on Indian notables who checked in at the St James Court hotel in central London. But slowly over the years, as investigation agencies and court proceedings continued a relentless grind against him, Modi grew more circumspect and gave up on trying to present himself as a whistleblower. His recent move to assume citizenship of Vanuatu, an island nation in the South Pacific, was another bid to possibly shield himself from Indian agencies. The citizenship was revoked after the Indian government conveyed the status of legal cases pending against Modi. It does seem slowly but surely the man is running out of options.

Congress’ Haryana Debacle

The results to the Haryana civic polls saw BJP sweeping the mayoral contests and winning a majority of wards as well. BJP even won Julana from where former wrestler Vignesh Phogat won the Assembly election. Worse news for Congress is the failure of candidates to manage second-place finishes.
In some wards, Congress nominees have barely managed 200-300 votes. It is clear that Congress in Haryana remains a deeply divided house
with the Hoodas and their opponents at daggers drawn.

Baghel’s Woes

There was a time former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel was feted by the Delhi media whom he handed out interviews and offered tours of Chhattisgarh to see development initiatives. With Congress reduced to just a few states, he helped keep the kitchen fires burning in the party’s headquarters. All this made him a favourite of the Congress high command and the ambitions of other state leaders to replace Baghel remained stillborn. Now, a series of raids by ED in connection with an alleged liquor scam, totalling more than `1,000 crore, has placed the previous Congress government under adverse scrutiny. Quite a change from the time when Baghel could never put a
foot wrong.

Bhupesh BaghelBhupinder Singh HoodaBJPDharmendra PradhanGujaratIndian politicsRahul Gandhi