Glasnost Moment for RSS?
Why did Mohan Bhagwat undertake the three-day outreach in the national capital which saw him addressing a saffron-meets-FabIndia-and-pearls-crowd at Vigyan Bhavan recently? Those who claim he was distancing the RSS from the Narendra Modi led government would do well to remember that the entire event took place at the capital’s Vigyan Bhavan and so could not have happened without the Prime Minister’s okay. Ram Madhav, the savvy pracharak turned savvier BJP general secretary, has called this a “Glasnost moment for the Sangh”. In an editorial he has pointed out that “‘If not me, who? And if not now, when?’, retorted Gorbachev when asked about his reformist zeal. Bhagwat looked equally determined.” Madhav’s optimism aside, one has to wait and see how Bhagwat’s comments will translate on the ground.
Government ups its Defence
The government has gone into a damage control mode as Rahul Gandhi steps up the pressure on the Rafale deal. Since this is fast becoming part of the election 2019 narrative, the government is keen to get its side of the story out and the fire fighting has been sourced to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who is now pitching in along with the efforts of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and sundry party spokespersons.
The old guard
Natwar Singh’s book release saw an interesting turnout, especially by the old guard of the Congress. Apart from Pranab Mukherjee, who released the book, also present were Hansraj Bhardwaj, Shivraj Patil and Mani Shankar Aiyar. Another former Congressman present was M.J. Akbar. And with Natwar Singh having left the party, one wonders who the next on the list will be. Though one thing is certain, the last man standing will be none other than Mani Shankar Aiyar, whose loyalty to the Gandhis, especially Rajiv Gandhi, still remains at a premium. And it’s clearly something that has stood him in good stead as his recent return from suspension has shown.