TMC vs TMC?
What is happening within the Trinamool Congress (TMC)? First there was the very public snub given by Mamata Banerjee to the party’s in-house celebrity, Mahua Moitra. Some say it was a message to her, that if there is a rising star it is the Chief Minister’s nephew, Abhishek Banerjee, and so Mahua should cool down her brand building—for this feisty speaker is fast acquiring a (well earned) equity in her own right. There was already talk of a Derek O’Brien vs Mahua turf war as before her debut, it was Derek who was the TMC’s best voice in the capital, bothon TV channels, and in Parliament debates. Now he has to share this space with Mahua. However, Sushmita Dev’s entry into the party will also give Mahua some competition for not only is she an articulate speaker with national recall, she also has an impressive presence in her home state. (Incidentally, did Moitra tweet a welcome to Sushmita when she joined the TMC in the presence of Derek O’Brien and Abhishek Banerjee?) Both Mahua and Derek are in Goa to oversee the TMC’s campaign there and both have put out differing tweets on the Congress. Add to all this the presence of Prashant Kishor. First there was media speculation as to how the party and Kishor are not quite in tune with each other. The reports used a comment made by Derek at a press briefing about the TMC and I-PAC relationship and added some off-the-record briefings by TMC sources. This was followed by an official press release denying the said differences. And, just as an aside, where does the newly minted TMC vice president Pavan Varma fit in all this, for he has a fairly decent equation with Prashant Kishor (not to mention a holiday home in Goa where he takes off to play bridge). Well, the jury is still out as to whether the TMC is the new Congress or not, but it is definitely adopting some characteristics of the Congress which includea high command dynastic culture, and also some good old fashioned political turf wars. Watch this space for more.
A high profile book launch
Smriti Zubin Irani’s debut novel Lal Salaam is a fast-paced gripping read. Barely a month since its launch, it’s the talk of the literary festivals and cocktail circuits, with most people picking it up because of the author’s name, and then staying to finish the book because of the well written narrative; though one wonders where she found time to write it. The answer came from the author herself at the launch of her book in the national capital during a conversation moderated by Vir Sanghvi where she told him that her favourite writing instrument was her mobile, plus since she is an insomniac she thought she’d put that time to good use by writing a book. The launch was well attended by journalists and bureaucrats including Amitabh Kant of Niti Aayog and Vikram Sood, ex RAW chief, with Irani playing an affable host, reaching out to all those who made the effort to attend. In fact, Sanghvi kept politics out of the launch itself, preferring to talk about the author herself, making it an easy and anecdotal conversation. He got Smriti to talk about her childhood, such as how she preferred Hardy Boys to Mills & Boon. The evening had an informal flow, helped by the fact that Sanghvi has been interviewing Irani since her Bollywood days. It was only towards the end, in response to a question from the audience that she took potshots at Rahul and Priyanka’s padayatra in Amethi that was taking place on the same day. For those who like crime thrillers, it’s a must read. On a personal note, I must confess when I picked up the book I was more interested in the character of the (woman) journalist since this government is not too fond of the media, I wondered if this attitude would be reflected in the minister’s writings. But no, the journalist comes across as a fairly likable and a very professional character. For more details, read the book.
Will it be Smriti vs Priyanka in 2024?
While Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will not be contesting the 2022 Assembly polls from Uttar Pradesh, there is some speculation that she will contest the 2024 Lok Sabha, and that too from Amethi. If you recall, the Gandhis lost their family bastion to Smriti Irani in the last polls and are keen to wrest it back. If that were to happen then this would most certainly be one of the most watched contests in 2024. As for Rahul Gandhi, well since the state of Kerala doesn’t seem too overwhelmed with his decision to contest from there, he may also wend his way back to the cowbelt, but will stand from his mother’s constituency, Rae Bareli, which has so far remained a safe bastion for the family. And Sonia Gandhi in all probability may take the Rajya Sabha route to Parliament.
From Rawat to Azad
Recently, Congress’ Uttarakhand leader, Harish Rawat created quite a political ripple when he tweeted that all was not well within the party’s state organisational unit. Rawat tweeted, “Isn’t it strange, one has to swim in the sea in the form of forthcoming electoral battle, instead of cooperation, the organizational structure at most places is turning its face away or is playing a negative role…There are many crocodiles of the ruling dispensation.” According to Congress sources Rawat was hitting out at the state PCC chief Devendra Yadav, who, he feels, is acting at the behest of AICC General Secretary K.C. Venugopal.
And since Venugopal’s closeness to Rahul Gandhi is well known one wonders as to why the Congress high command was trying to destabilise Rawat on the eve of a state election. Apparently, what also upset Rawat was that while he was being told that the ticket distribution had not yet been finalized, he later learnt that as many as 35 candidates had been finalized without his input. All this has led Rawat to believe that he may not be the party’s CM choice should the Congress win the state. Hence the tantrum, which had the desired result, for now it seems he will be the CM face.In Rawat’s defence, he knew he had to register a protest, for he has already seen this play out earlier during the2012 election when he was the star campaigner, but the CM’s chair went to Vijay Bahuguna. If the party had no Plan B to counter Rawat then why provoke him in the first place? Why is the Congress so keen to destabilise one of its own?
Manish Tewari, a member of the G23 has already tweeted something to this effect.How many more Amarinders will come up—and on that note, has anyone checked in with Ghulam Nabi Azad recently? He has reportedly turned down a Rajya Sabha seat offered by the TMC. He has already made his displeasure known with the current Congress leadership. So, where is he headed?