What Goes Around, Comes Around
This Parliament session will be known more for what happened outside the proceedings than for its routine work. With the suspension of 146 MPs, the moot question really is, why didn’t the Houses get adjourned instead of carrying on, minus most of the opposition? The answer is twofold. The first is obvious—the government wanted to pass some crucial bills before its tenure ends. The second reason is more interesting, for as a scribe quipped, the government, which is always in a continuous competitive spirit with the Nehru-Gandhis, wanted to beat the Rajiv Gandhi government’s track record on suspension. In 1989, as many as 63 opposition MPs were suspended after the Thakkar Commission report on the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was tabled. The then Opposition had kicked up an uproar over the commission’s findings, particularly its suspicions regarding the involvement of Indira Gandhi’s special assistant, R.K. Dhawan. If you recall, by then Dhawan was part of Rajiv Gandhi’s team. Well, you know the old saying about what goes around…
The I.N.D.I.A Group sub-text
When Mamata Banerjee proposed Mallikarjun Kharge’s name as the leading face of the I.N.D.I.A group, either as the Prime Minister or the convenor, the Opposition used this as an example to showcase the unity within the alliance. However, there are some crucial questions that arise, the main one being, did Mamata Banerjee speak to the Gandhis before making this announcement, or were they taken by surprise? Because this is not the first time Mamata Banerjee has surprised the Congress leadership. She did the same during Pranab Mukherjee’s Presidential election when she discussed Hamid Ansari’s name inside 10 Janpath during a meeting with Congress leaders, but stepped out and announced her support for Pranab Mukherjee to the media. It’s not for nothing that she is known as Mercurial Mamata and as any leader from the Vajpayee era will recall, it took all of the former Prime Minister’s political tact to deal with her many moods. As for Kharge’s candidature as the PM face for the I.N.D.I.A group. This is something that should have been the breaking news post the Congress Working Committee held on the 21st. But instead the CWC focused on the next leg of Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. In other words, Rahul and not Kharge remains the big focus for the Congress. Guess that itself is a telling comment by itself.
What Will Nitish do next?
It is no secret that Nitish Kumar harbours prime ministerial ambitions Even before he reached Delhi for the I.N.D.I.A group meeting, posters of him as the alliance’s PM face appeared all over Patna. He has also taken note of the old adage that the road to the PM’s chair is via Uttar Pradesh and is reportedly scouting around for a safe seat from there. And so when his name did not even come up for consideration at the alliance meet, sources claim that the Bihar Chief Minister did not hide his displeasure when Kharge’s name was discussed instead of his. Surprisingly, Kharge’s name was backed by AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal who too harbours Prime Ministerial ambitions but not the numbers. Since Nitish Kumar’s ambition is backed by Lalu Yadav, who is keen to see him out of the CM’s chair in Bihar, both the leaders from Bihar were absent from the press interaction that followed afterwards. But they should wait this one out for as another I.N.D.IA leader quipped, the first name that comes out is usually never the last but is proposed to be shot down.
What’s in a name?
In this age of marketing and political branding the PM is certainly leading the race, his latest salvo being Modi Ki Guarantee as a slogan for the 2024 polls. The opposition has come up with the I.N.D.I.A bloc but that went through its deliberations with Nitish Kumar for one opposing any name that had NDA in it. Unlike him, his colleague from the Hindi heartland and former Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav is keen to work around the NDA label. He is currently working on an impressive grouping that includes Pichdas, Dalits and Adivasis. His nomenclature for his front: PDA. It’s a catchy name and could work well in slogans against the BJP’s grouping as it rhymes with NDA. But there is a catch: the millennials refer to PDA as public display of affection. Well, given that Akhilesh is seeking the voters’ love, that could work too.
Is it all over for Kamal Nath?
Post the Madhya Pradesh election loss, Kamal Nath has resigned as the state PCC chief for Madhya Pradesh and the next rung of leadership has taken over. While he was not the only leader to face a loss in the recent elections, others such as Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel have been accommodated in the National Alliance Committee formed by the party in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls. Nath has been left out. However, given the fact that the veteran leader still retains his hold over his constituency, not only did the Congress win all 7 assembly segments from Chhindwara in the recent polls, but that was also the only Lok Sabha seat that the Congress could win in the last Lok Sabha polls from Madhya Pradesh. Given this, Nath will probably be fielded from Chhindwara in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, and should he win, he would be returning to the House as a MP for the 10th term and would be one of the senior-most MPs in the House. Given his parliamentary experience which includes the Parliamentary Affairs portfolio, the party could use his expertise within the House. Hence it would be too early to write off the veteran leader just yet.