To Delimit or Not
Will the government reintroduce the Delimitation Bill at the end of the Monsoon Session of Parliament? Initially, especially after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kirren Rijiju met Rahul Gandhi, it did seem as if that was on the cards, for sources within the government were briefing the media as to how the government had secured a majority in the Rajya Sabha and was confident about the Lok Sabha as well, counting on the NCPI, JMM, NCPSP, DMK and SP. But this could also be narrative building because while the NCPSP has been stating that their party would decide on the bill only after they have seen the new draft, its leader Supriya Sule was there at the forefront along with Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav outside the PM’s house during the paper leak protest. Again, the DMK has also not made its stand clear though post Udhayanidhi Stalin’s arrest it is a bit peeved with the Congress and the TVK. As for the SP, its leader Akhilesh Yadav seems quite confident of his flock. Anyhow, as of now it seems as if the delimitation may be postponed to the Winter Session (or a special session may be called in between). However, the government is pretty firm on pushing the FCRA bill through, and this could be one way of testing the waters on opposition unity.
What’s the issue?
The Opposition was all set to raise the ethanol issue in Parliament and demand Nitin Gadkari’s ouster. As Gaurav Gogoi, Deputy Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha told NewsX, this would have probably suited the government better as the current dispensation would happily sacrifice Gadkari, but post the youth protests and the use of force against the students, the Congress changed its stance, and decided to target the Home Minister instead. Well, perhaps not the entire opposition. Because the SP is keener to raise the issue of “chanda-chori” at the Ram Janmabhoomi temple and hence ethanol has been relegated to the third place, for now. A recent video released by Rahul Gandhi promises that the issue has not been forgotten and that the Congress will be taking it up at some point.
First Time Voters of Tomorrow
This was one hot potato that was totally out of syllabus. Neither the Modi government, nor the opposition saw them coming but Gen Z has redefined not just the language of protest but also the language of governance. At a NewsX Town Hall with Gen Z one got to meet a very articulate group of Class 12 and First Year students. Ask them whom they see as leaders of tomorrow and the answers were Prashant Kishor, Jayant Chaudhary, Sachin Pilot, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Manish Tewari, Jai Panda and Rajiv Pratap Rudy. The one leader who they are disillusioned with is Raghav Chaddha, who was once their pin-up, because he changed parties midway. Their take on anti-defection is: fight a new election on your new party symbol. They also pointed out that they judge leaders not by their speeches in Parliament (and, please do not try to use our lingo, you just do not “clock it”), but by how they use their MPLAD funds. They are savvy enough to track this online. Some were happy with the construction of the Ram Janmabhoomi temple but now they are feeling let down by the “chanda-chori”. As for former Prime Ministers that they look up to, Atal Behari Vajpayee tops the list along with Narasimha Rao, along with an appreciation for Jawaharlal Nehru. These are the first-time voters of tomorrow that politicians cutting across party lines need to woo.
