New rules of engagement
Various leaders wanting to promote their protégés in the coming Assembly elections are coming up for some tough scrutiny by the new Congress president. It is Rahul Gandhi’s rule that any candidate who has lost twice from the constituency should not be re-nominated. This theory was first elaborated on during the Karnataka poll tickets, when Veerappa Moily suggested a candidate. At the CEC meet, Rahul asked Moily how he could guarantee the win of such a candidate. Interestingly, all senior leaders from the poll going states have been asked to submit a list of constituencies that they can “deliver”. This makes a marked change from earlier lists that were reduced to ticket demands from their protégés. Senior leaders have also been asked to submit the voting pattern of their booths before demanding ministerial berths—for if they don’t have control over their own booths, how can they claim to hold sway over the entire state? Clearly, Rahul is putting in place some new rules of engagement. Wonder how his party will play along!
Infighting in Rajasthan Congress
Sachin Pilot has not only to contend with Ashok Gehlot but also with the ambitions of the state Leader of Opposition, Rameswar Dudi. According to sources, Pilot and Dudi had a heated exchange at the party’s Central Election Committee held at 10 Janpath recently. An angry Sachin is said to have threatened to quit if his candidates were overlooked. To this, Dudi is said to have retorted that if Sachin wanted to quit, he should go ahead and do so. However, it seems that Sachin’s candidates were given preference, for the meeting ended with Dudi storming out of the room. Later, another meeting was convened at the party’s war room at 15 GRG Road between Gehlot, Pilot, Dudi, along with members of the state’s screening committee—Kumari Selja and Avinash Pandey. According to a source, the infighting between Pilot and Dudi suits Gehlot, for then he emerges as the consensus face, not unlike Kamal Nath’s USP in Madhya Pradesh where he is the bridge between Jyotiraditya Scindia and Digvijaya Singh.
BJP’s troubles in Madhya Pradesh
All is not well in Madhya Pradesh BJP either, though the focus is on the more high profile infighting between Jyotiraditya Scindia and Digvijaya Singh. However, in BJP, too, there has been a tussle between Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Kailash Vijayvargiya, the party general secretary, both demanding tickets for their supporters. It seems as if the former has walked away with the larger chunk, this despite the fact that Vijayvargiya is said to be close to both Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. Both are heavyweights in the Indore region, though as an organisational man, Vijayvargiya’s influence extends all over the state. And right now, he is certainly miffed with the ticket selection, particularly because he could not ensure the seat of his choice for his own son.
It’s chemistry, not just maths in Telangana
The Congress is in an unusually upbeat mood regarding the coming elections, because apart from a positive feedback from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, it is also getting some good news from the South, where there seems to be huge anti-incumbency against the Telangana Rashtra Samithi in Telangana. This is also worrying the BJP, which is in coalition talks with the TRS. Add to this Chandrababu Naidu’s meeting with Rahul Gandhi, where the Congress-TDP alliance seems to have been finalised—the only catch here being that while the Congress in Telangana is keen to ally with the TDP, its counterpart in Andhra is opposing the said alliance. Who said politics was simple?
Will KCR’s daughter contest Assembly polls?
Reports from Telangana suggest that KCR’s daughter K. Kavitha may be contesting the Assembly elections instead of waiting for the next Lok Sabha. She is reportedly keen to shift out of her Lok Sabha constituency Nizamabad, where she was recently booed during a public rally.