Pawar Point

Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar made a low-key visit to Delhi recently and met CPM leader Sitaram Yechury and CPI’s D Raja separately. Why? If the grapevine is to be believed, Pawar is in constant touch with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as he wants her to return to power in the state by trouncing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming Assembly election. So he told opposition party leaders like Yechury and Raja not to take any steps that could help BJP. It could even pave the way for a united opposition in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The speculation is that after the death of Congress leader Ahmed Patel, Pawar could be made United Progressive Alliance convenor. He now plans to go to Kolkata along with other opposition leaders to campaign for Banerjee. Doesn’t it undermine the roles of the already vociferous state Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and the Left’s Sujan Chakraborty, known for their tirades against Banerjee?

Spiritual Connect

Actor Kangana Ranaut has become a devotee of Swami Vivekananda. This year, on his birth centenary, Ranaut tweeted: ‘When I was lost, you found me. When I had nowhere to go, you held my hand. When I was disillusioned by the world and had no hope, you gave me purpose. There is no being, no God higher than you, my Guru. You own every bit of my being…’ Now, the gossip is Ranaut will be joining BJP and before the Bengal election, she’s playing the Swami Vivekananda card, an evergreen emotive issue in the state. Or, is she leaning on Swamiji to inspire other women?

Outsider Status

As the West Bengal Assembly election approaches, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is out to appease the common man, even those from outside the state. Owing to Covid restrictions, though the Kolkata International Book Fair went virtual this year, Banerjee ensured the Ganga Sagar Mela didn’t. Each year, the mela is held on the occasion of Makar Sankranti at a location where the river Ganga meets the Bay of Bengal. And a lot of outsiders throng Kolkata’s Babughat to attend the mela. Despite Covid, the state government made canopies for those coming in from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh as Banerjee did her rounds and even gave a speech in Hindi. It seems she’s on a mission to prove that she’s not against ‘outsiders’, but maybe only against the cultural invasion of Bengal.

Return Ticket?

Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has always been a headache for BJP’s central leadership. In the latest development, supporters of Raje in Jaipur have launched a ‘Vasundhara Raje Samarthak Manch’, which is being seen as a move to resurrect her as BJP’s chief ministerial candidate in the 2023 state election. Apparently, this has upset the BJP brass as well as RSS leaders in Nagpur. But Raje remains unfazed and claims the Manch was launched out of people’s enthusiasm.

Vaccine Eloquent

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is a busy man. Both Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are counting on him for Covid ‘diplomacy’. It really cuts both ways. One, overseeing the arrival of vaccines from outside that can be gauged by Jaishankar’s frequent travels and negotiations abroad. Two, the foreign minister is also involved in finalising the timetable for India’s vaccine outgo to other countries, like Brazil and Bangladesh.

Envoy Vacancy

Kenneth Juster, who has been the US ambassador to India since 2017, has just delivered his farewell speech and all eyes are now on who’s replacing him. There is gossip that the Biden era might pitchfork Alyssa Ayres, senior fellow for India, Pakistan and South Asia at the New York-headquartered Council on Foreign Relations, to the post. In 2013, Ayres was even assistant secretary of state for South Asia. Her husband, Sadanand Dhume, is an author and journalist of Indian origin. Obviously, the Indian diaspora in the US is actively lobbying for Ayres. Back home, the Prime Minister’s Office says that the choice of the next US ambassador to India rests squarely with the Americans.

 

Goan Adventure

With the Goa Assembly election slated to be held next year, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Admi Party (AAP) National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal has announced the setting up of a Konkani Academy in Delhi. However, the national capital doesn’t boast a formidable Konkani population. We learn that this is Kejriwal’s strategy to kickstart his Goa campaign, particularly when AAP hasn’t fared so well in Punjab and Haryana in the past.

Cabinet Gossip

The media is always abuzz with news of a Cabinet reshuffle around Makar Sankranti, but that has come to naught this year. The talk of inducting BJP MP Jyotiraditya Scindia to the Cabinet seems to be dying out too as a clutch of state elections are lined up this year. Perhaps, after the elections then? Maybe. But a section of BJP was heard speculating about a change in Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s post recently. Again, the Budget is around the corner. Perhaps, after the Budget then? Only Modi holds the key to the ‘real’ Cabinet reshuffle.

Arvind KejriwalAssembly electionpoliticsSharad PawarWest Bengal