A political tête-à-tête
Rasheed Kidwai’s latest book, “Leaders, Politicians, Citizens”, with anecdotal obituaries of 50 leaders and politicians, was launched in the national capital last week. A panel discussion with Congress leader Sachin Pilot, BJP vice president Baijayant Panda, ANI founder Prem Prakash, and the author was organised in the national capital by the Kalinga Literary Festival. The discussion focused on the politics of old versus the now, with some of the panelists recalling how one of the best obituaries to Pandit Nehru was given by the then opposition leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Sachin Pilot also spoke of the time when Rajiv Gandhi sent Vajpayee abroad for treatment. Jay Panda countered this by reminding Pilot about the discomfiture in the Congress when the PM praised Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad in the Rajya Sabha. Panda also pointed out how the Modi government worked on a consensus on various bills including the Judicial Appointments Bill. The anecdote about Vajpayee is present in Rasheed’s book amongst many others including the incredible rapport Chandraswami had with Margaret Thatcher down to predicting her election win. Pilot, however, was quick to point out that it was the late Rajesh Pilot who put Chandraswami in jail on charges of fraud. While Prem Prakash lamented the fact that had Rajiv Gandhi or Rajesh Pilot been alive today the politics of India would have been very different. In fact, Kidwai’s profile on the late Rajesh Pilot has a tongue in cheek last line saying that “maybe the doodhwala could have countered the chaiwala”, for the senior Pilot used to deliver milk before his career took off. The book profiles leaders from Sheikh Abdullah, Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Bal Thackeray and many others who have been a part of India’s story.
The Dhankhar-Himanta-Yogi model
While most were surprised by former West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Singh Dhankhar’s elevation as the NDA’s Vice President candidate, those who know the Modi-Shah duo state that this was in keeping with the style of leadership the duo wants to promote—someone who doesn’t hold back while taking on a political opponent, and in Dhankhar’s case, he used his own knowledge of the law and the Constitution to contain the feisty West Bengal Chief Minister. Similarly, the NDA’s choice of Presidential candidate may have ticked all the politically correct boxes in terms of promoting a woman and India’s first tribal President, the individual herself, President-elect Droupadi Murmu, passes scrutiny with flying colours. Her back story shows that she is not of the same mould as one of UPA’s choices, former President Pratibha Patil. But the real message really is in the choice of Dhankhar, more for his individual brand of politics than for any caste or region he represents. More so if you take his political instincts along with those of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and UP CM Yogi Adityanath then you get a pretty fair idea of the kind of leadership that is showcased in the Modi era. These are leaders who know how to deliver.
Inhouse Strike
Last week, Union Minister for Road & Transport, Nitin Gadkari shot off a letter to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister complaining against “illegal recoveries” from large vehicles and transporters at the Madhya Pradesh-Maharashtra border. On the very same day that Shivraj Singh Chouhan received this letter, the Gwalior-based Transport Commissioner, Mukesh Jain was shunted out. What is interesting here is that Jain is said to be close to BJP MP and Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. Ever since he joined the BJP, Scindia’s career graph has been on a steady rise and he is said to be in the good books of both Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There is even talk of him replacing Chouhan as the BJP’s face in the coming Madhya Pradesh elections. In the meantime, Congress state leaders, Digvijaya Singh and Vivek Tankha have taken to Twitter to highlight the state of corruption in Madhya Pradesh roadways.