Biding His Time

In Punjab, the Congress high command has communicated to Navjot Singh Sidhu that he is not their chief ministerial candidate, and so Charanjit Singh Channi will be the natural choice. But Sidhu remains very active within the party. He is creating a good relationship with all candidates. He expects a hung Assembly and, in such a scenario, to be the compromise candidate. He also has past links with the Aam Aadmi Party. It is too early to count him out.

A Movie Problem

In Maharashtra, Congress has requested Shiv Sena head and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to ban the movie Why I Killed Gandhi. The state Congress president, Nana Patole, personally met Thackeray and said this was also the stand of the All India Cine Workers Association. The organisation had sent a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that Mahatma Gandhi’s killer should not be glorified as they allege the movie will do. The main actor in the movie turned out to be a Member of Parliament (MP) from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), an ally of Congress in Maharashtra. This movie might even create discord within the ruling alliance.

As Per Value

IN BIHAR, RASHTRIYA Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav has always believed that if it hadn’t given so many seats to Congress in the last Assembly election, his party would have formed the government. Now, the Legislative Council elections are slated for 24 seats, and RJD is only offering two seats to Congress. How the relationship between the two parties will unfold will be seen in the coming days.

From Our Caste

The caste of Rama and Hanuman have become a factor in the Uttar Pradesh elections. All political parties are saying that they are closer to the castes of the two deities. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who leads the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) campaign, is a Thakur from the Kshatriya caste. His followers say that Rama is a Kshatriya. The main opposition Samajwadi Party points out that in the 2018 Rajasthan election campaign, Adityanath had said that they were all “Hanuman ki jaati” and that Hanuman was a Dalit because he lived in the forests. A month ago, Samajwadi leader Akhilesh Yadav had taken out a rally in which Hanuman’s photo was prominently displayed. Gond leader Ramashankar Vidyarthi is claiming that the birthplace of Hanuman is in their community’s region, and so he is actually from their caste. BJP leader Lakshmi
Narayan says Hanuman is from the Jat community.

Open Season

IN UTTARAKHAND, THE Congress president joined BJP while in Maharashtra, a Congress Member of Legislative Council joined NCP. Congress MPs in Punjab have rebelled, and a senior Congress leader in Karnataka has quit the party. In West Bengal, it is BJP which is facing this situation. Some believe that there are still a lot of defections possible from it.

Poor Bargain

Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who formed his own party after leaving Congress, has allied with BJP but he is not very happy with the seat-sharing. BJP got 65 seats, leaving only 37 to him. They could get their chief minister, which rules out Singh returning to the post. But he doesn’t have any choice.

Political Diplomacy

BETWEEN RAJASTHAN Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Assembly Speaker CP Joshi, there has been a complicated relationship for a long time. Both are old Congress hands but have had differences of opinion on several issues. Joshi became a Central minister and state party president but never realised his ambition of becoming chief minister. The new chief secretary appointed by Gehlot is Usha Sharma who is a close relative of Joshi. But he is said to have not interfered in the process or suggested her name. People are wondering whether Gehlot chose her because of political diplomacy.

Only Following Precedent

AT A FESTIVAL, Thiruvathirakali (a traditional dance form of Kerala) was organised by the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) in different districts. What has come in for controversy are the posters and banners of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan that were also there, talking about things being done for the poor. Within CPM, this is rankling because traditionally they have been against personality cults. Vijayan’s supporters, however, say that even earlier when the party was in power, then-Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan used to do the same thing. Ironically, at the time, Vijayan used to criticise him for it.

Strictly No Meetings

THE SAARC SUMMIT was to be held in Pakistan but because of Covid, it was to be done virtually. But India didn’t change its position on not attending. Recently, Pakistan’s first-ever National Security Policy had a sentence on peaceful ties with India. But India’s position is that Pakistan should stop sponsoring cross-border terrorism before meetings are possible. According to SAARC protocol, if one country is not ready to join, then the summit cannot take place. So this year, too, there will be no SAARC.

Assembly electionNavjot Singh SidhupoliticsPunjabUttar PradeshYogi Adityanath