The I.N.D.I.A bloc Blame Game
The Congress blame game has begun post Delhi elections, with a lot of the allies targeting the Congress for the Aam Admi Party defeat. The Congress comeback on this is that it doesn’t make sense to just blame the Congress, for it was the AAP’s Gopal Rai who held a press conference on 26 June, soon after the Lok Sabha results came in, claiming that the alliance was for the general elections only and not the Assembly. However, there are others within the Congress who are of the view that the Congress could and should do more to hold on to the I.N.D.I.A bloc. After the Lok Sabha results, the Congress leadership (read Rahul Gandhi in particular) was also pretty chuffed with the 99 seats that it became more aggressive in claiming credit for not allowing the BJP to cross the halfway mark. Apparently, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge wanted to hold a meeting of the I.N.D.I.A bloc to take stock and charter a course post the Lok Sabha polls, but party sources say he dropped the idea since he didn’t get much of a response from Rahul Gandhi. And that’s where the real problem lies—what the I.N.D.I.A bloc needs is a structure and a plan of action. Rahul has certainly given it an ideology or a blueprint of action by making the Constitution as its main agenda and focus. But what next? Will the bloc lurch from election to election, fighting one as a united front and another as a free for all taking on its own allies as well as the BJP? These are issues that need to be tackled sooner than later, for the Bihar election is around the corner.
MODI KI GUARANTEE
The BJP has to take two decisions soon. One is to finalize the name for Delhi’s next Chief Minister. And the other is to decide on who will replace J.P. Nadda as the next BJP chief, as the former’s term (and extensions) has ended. The real question here is will the PM (and have no doubt, he is the one who will decide) go by the sheer force of the individual or will he go by other calculations such as caste, gender and region. So far it has been a mixed bag: for instance, Manohar Lal Khattar was made Haryana CM more for the equation of trust he shares with the PM. At the time the fact that the BJP had elected a non Jat leader came for some criticism. But the choice worked, as did the choice for his successor Nayab Singh Saini the current CM, albeit he checks different boxes, his OBC caste being one of them. In Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, it was the caste and gender representation that mattered; while in Maharashtra and before that Assam, the PM gave Devendra Fadnavis and Himanta Biswa Sarma their long awaited due. Yogi Adityanath was made Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh predominantly because of the sheer force of his personality rather than any other consideration. So, with Prime Minister Modi, one never knows. That is the only Modi Ki Guarantee we have when it comes to predicting his choices.
Embracing Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam
The MIT World Peace University (MIT-WPU) in Pune is one of India’s leading private engineering and management institutions. But another remarkable and not so much talked about feature is its World Peace Dome. One of the biggest domes in the world, it houses a World Peace Prayer Hall and a World Peace Library, that is dedicated to achieving what its name implies. The MIT WPU Global President, Rahul V. Karnad is now propagating the need to have such peace parks in capitals across the country, to provide an atmosphere of respite in our bustling urban landscape as well as a space to host conversations and events that foster a culture of secular harmony and community well-being. In other words, a park that symbolically reinforces the idea that peace is not just an abstract ideal but a tangible, lived experience. Well, when peace is a walk in the park.
Meenakshi’s loss is Shikha’s Gain
The former Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi must be ruing the fact that she sat out the Delhi elections. According to party sources, it was not that she didn’t want to contest the polls but she was pushing for a constituency of her choice. Apparently, while the leadership was keen that she takes on the then sitting AAP MLA and minister, Saurabh Bharadwaj from Greater Kailash, sources say Meenakshi preferred to contest from the Delhi Cantonment area. In fact, the BJP spent some time scouring for a heavyweight candidate to pitch against Bharadwaj for he was a popular leader with a strong on-ground presence. They finally chose Shikha Rai, a two-term councillor from the area who, it turns out, was the right choice. She is a familiar face in the constituency and had contested the 2020 Delhi Assembly against Bharadwaj. Although she lost that election, Shikha kept up her connect with the people, was quick to respond to pleas by the various RWA groups and remained accessible. That worked for her in this election as she managed to defeat Bharadwaj and emerged as one of the giant killers in the Delhi polls.