Cabinet Reshuffle this week?
Delhi’s power corridors are abuzz with rumours of a possible reshuffle of the Union Council of Ministers. While only the Prime Minister knows whether this will materialize or not, this is probably the only possible window for a reshuffle, before the next general elections. This is also what is lending credence to the rumours that are doing the rounds, so let’s take a look at the buzz, without making any predictions. This time around a big shake-up is expected with as many as three of the Big 4 being shifted around (if not out). At least three Cabinet ministers have apparently fallen “out of favour”. Will they be shifted out? Since this is election year, some new faces could be inducted keeping caste and regional equations in mind, while some ministerial performers could also be shifted to the organisation for party work. And finally, there is always the Margdarshak Mandal.
MP’s New Hindutva Poster Boy
In what must have come as a pleasant surprise for Kamal Nath, a recent C-Voter survey of the election bound Madhya Pradesh showed that he was more acceptable as a Hindutva leader than his rival and current Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. In response to a question asking whose Hindutva do you trust, as many as 44% opted for Nath’s brand while 41.6% voted for Chouhan. In terms of a CM face, Chouhan had the lead, with 37.4% opting for him, while 36% chose Nath. The survey sampled 17,000 people across the state, predicting a tally of 112 for the ruling BJP and 114 for the Congress, in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly. For Nath, this is a major thumbs up for his brand of politics, for he has been careful to combine both development and Hindutva. In fact, one of the tallest statues of Lord Hanuman in the country is in Chhindwara, which is Nath’s constituency in MP. Every time he tours the area in his chopper, Nath makes it a point to do an aerial parikrama of the statue. During his tenure as CM he also set up 1,000 cow shelters and tweeted that the “Gaumata is a symbol of pride and faith for us and I cannot see her suffering on the streets.” Clearly, this is paying off, both for the party and for the veteran Congress leader himself for this is probably his last hurrah. In fact, if the Congress does as well as is predicted then a major chunk of the credit goes to the former Congress CM, for he has been working tirelessly in the state ever since his government was toppled by the BJP. Of course, as a senior Congress leader quipped, the field is tilted in favour of Nath, as long as his on-again, off-again friend and Congress leader Digvijaya Singh doesn’t queer the pitch with one of his freewheeling comments.
The Chhattisgarh Gambit
On election eve, the Congress high command has appointed a Deputy Chief Minister for the state of Chhattisgarh. This is a move to placate the sulking T.S. Singh Deo, who has been claiming that he was promised Chief Ministership in rotation. That the move came from the Centre and not by the CMO (Chief Minister’s Office) is an indication of the pro-active role being played by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. Bhupesh Baghel was consulted on the matter, but it is clear that the initiative came from the Centre. Slowly but surely Kharge is asserting his authority over the party. What is also helping keep a smooth rapport between the Gandhis and the Congress chief is that the latter is keeping Rahul Gandhi’s favourite general secretary K.C. Venugopal in t