Pilot’s Choice

Whatever the outcome of the current impasse in Congress, where Ashok Gehlot wants the Rajasthan chief minister’s (CM) post to be retained by him, many are keenly watching Sachin Pilot as he ponders his next move. Pilot is believed to have met Rahul Gandhi recently and told him that Gehlot cannot be allowed to retain the CM’s post. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is believed to be in touch with several Congress leaders, is apparently considering whether it can get Pilot to switch sides and join the party. But if BJP is able to muster the numbers, would it be willing to make Pilot the CM when it has its own leaders vying for that post? If they could give the CM’s post in Maharashtra to Eknath Shinde, some wonder, why won’t they be willing to do something similar in Rajasthan?

Not So Foreign Anymore

A somewhat unusual episode unfolded recently. The External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who hails from Tamil Nadu and speaks Tamil fluently, travelled to a village in the state to deliver a speech about Modi’s foreign policy. Speaking at the gram panchayat level, it was as much a lecture on foreign policy as an electoral pitch, with him talking about how Narendra Modi had become a well-respected global leader, and how under Modi, India has become an important nation in the eyes of world powers like the US and China. What was unusual about this whole affair is that one rarely sees politicians raise foreign policy issues as a type of electoral pitch. But according to the grapevine, BJP thinks Modi’s gains in foreign policy could become an attractive electoral sell in the 2024 General Election.  BJP apparently plans to send several senior ministers and leaders to far-flung villages to push this pitch.

Game of Thrones 

One may have noticed that in the recent rally held by the opposition in Haryana, Nitish Kumar was the sole chief minister in attendance. Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann weren’t expected to show up. But all other CMs from the Opposition camp also stayed away, with Mamata Banerjee, MK Stalin, and K Chandrashekar Rao preferring to send their representatives instead. Kumar, who wants to be the opposition camp’s face to take on Modi in the 2024 General Election, is believed to be quite upset. Realising that these opposition supremos aren’t willing to accept him as its face, he is believed to have outsourced the effort to unite them to Lalu Prasad Yadav and his son Tejashwi.

BJP’s Friendship Requests

Ever since Nitish Kumar walked away from his alliance with BJP, the latter’s leaders have become quite proactive in building relationships with smaller parties. This isn’t restricted only in its efforts to build ties with Chirag Paswan and other parties in Bihar, but similar efforts are underway even in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Amit Shah is believed to be the mind behind this strategy, and he’s got Dharmendra Pradhan and Bhupendra Yadav to execute this outreach.

Prodigal Son Returns?

Even after Amarinder Singh joined BJP in Punjab, rumours about the possibility of an alliance between BJP and its old ally, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), have begun swirling in Punjab. The recent meeting between SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and Amit Shah has only further intensified these rumours. The buzz is that BJP is looking for ways to capture the Sikh vote, and it thinks that through its old alliance with SAD, it can counter both the Aam Admi Party and the weakening Congress in the state. Capturing the Sikh vote of course isn’t going to be easy.

Amarinder SinghBJPCongressS JaishankarSachin Pilot