Fadnavis shines in Maharashtra local polls; Priyanka Gandhi eyed for UP comeback; Congress weighs alliances in Tamil Nadu ahead of elections.
Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis celebrates BJP’s BMC victory, while Priyanka Gandhi prepares for possible Uttar Pradesh political return (Photo: File)
Clearly, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has emerged as the man of the match in the recent local elections held across the state. The trophy win of course was when the BJP wrested the BMC away from the Thackerays after a span of three decades. As a BJP leader said, finally the Mayor of Mumbai will not be at the beck and call of the Thackerays. The party has emerged as the dominant party in the state, scoring a win over regional allies and rivals alike.
These elections saw Ajit Pawar joining hands with Sharad Pawar as well as the Thackeray cousins, Uddhav and Raj Thackeray uniting. Despite this, Fadnavis held strong. This has clearly placed him head and shoulders above some of the GenNext leaders within the BJP. It is a remarkable story of consistency and hard work, given the fact that just a few years ago Fadnavis was made to play second fiddle to a regional ally as the Deputy CM to Eknath Shinde.
But Fadnavis remained the loyal party worker and bided his time. His due diligence paid off and the recent win is a major milestone in his political graph. In the Modi-Shah BJP every election counts, whether it's a local, state or central level one. Devendra Fadnavis is well aware of this and gave these civic elections as much due as the state ones, addressing 37 rallies and corner meetings. Compare this to the paltry figure of three addressed by the Thackeray cousins.
But there is a silver lining for the UBT Sena in that his party has emerged as the main party of the Opposition. The Pawars did not do too well despite both Sharad and Ajit Pawar joining hands. There is a footnote here as well.
Speculation that Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra may soon return to Uttar Pradesh began soon after the state Congress unit celebrated her birthday in a big way. Cakes were cut throughout the state and the Parivartan Pratigya Program was also launched as an outreach to OBCs. State leaders say that the program, which was launched on her birthday, will culminate with a rally addressed by Priyanka herself on her birthday the following year.
However, while this may be a demand of the party workers, one is not quite sure as to whether the leadership is on the same page. Don't forget that recently Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was also given charge of the election going state of Assam. In fact, this is going to be a high voltage election and introducing Priyanka into the fray will see some interesting face-offs between the BJP's sitting Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and the feisty Congress general secretary.
But those advocating that Uttar Pradesh may be her next stop are also pointing to a recent meeting that Priyanka had with election strategist Prashant Kishor. During the 2022 Uttar Pradesh polls, Kishor had proposed that Priyanka should be projected as the Congress Party's CM face. This move was then nixed by Rahul Gandhi. But given Priyanka's rising political graph is the Congress taking a relook at Prashant Kishor's plan?
The Congress has been sending on again-off again feelers to its longtime ally, the DMK. It has even engaged in a mild flirtation with actor Vijay's TVK. But will it change allies so close to a state election? According to sources, this is more a bargaining stunt than anything else, because the Congress is miffed with the fact that the DMK has not made it a part of its government in the state.
It cites the example of Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar, who have accommodated the BJP in their council of ministers. However, the DMK for its part maintains that things are very different in Tamil Nadu as the agenda of the national parties are very different from the Dravidian state-based ones.
A DMK leader cited the recent row over the film Parasakthi, which is being distributed by Red Giant Movies, a firm owned by Stalin's grandson Inban Udayanidhi, but which the Congress wants banned. The film is set against the backdrop of the 1960s student movements and anti-Hindi protests in Tamil Nadu. The Congress has accused it of distorting historical facts such as a scene that claims that post office forms were only printed in Hindi during Congress rule in the state. This has been hotly contested by the Tamil Youth Congress leaders. Clearly, the undercurrents are coming to the surface on election eve.
But then this could all very well be a part of the posturing game that the Congress is now adopting towards its regional allies. Don't forget it followed a similar strategy with the RJD in Bihar as well.
