BJP Reshuffle
Will J.P. Nadda be reshuffling his team since he has not done a reshuffle since his term was given an extension last year. As there is less than a year to go before the general elections, the focus will now be on party work, in which case, the HQ becomes paramount. Though with the Narendra Modi government the focus is never off the party, with Central ministers being allotted constituencies to nurture and spending a fair amount of time in election going states. The question also arises that should Nadda reshuffle his team, will this be in tandem with a reshuffle in the Modi ministry as well? Alas, there are also queries to which the PMO delights in not providing any clues for the media.
Preserving Past Glory
BJP leader and former Union Minister Vijay Goel has been very busy, doing something he loves—preserving heritage and restoring the lost glory of his former constituency, Chandi Chowk. Recently he invited the media and India’s External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar to Gali Anar right in the heart of the area’s Dariba Bazar in the crowded Chandni Chowk area. There, he had renovated one of the city’s dilapidated havelis to its former sheen. The Golden Haveli is spread over three floors and 200 yards. It was built in 1911 by Lala Nemchand Kapurchand, a businessman whose forefathers came to Delhi during the time of Aurangzeb. The haveli with its grand Mughal architecture restored has 12 rooms and a restaurant and will be a draw during G20 for those wanting a glimpse of India’s heritage. This was one of the reasons why Goel worked to finish the project at this point in time. In the past, he has restored another haveli in Dharampura, Chandni Chowk, for which he got the UNESCO Asia Pacific Award for Cultural Heritage Conservation. It’s both a project of passion and also one for the right cause.
It’s the Margins that Matter
While it’s easy to club Vasundhara Raje Scindia and Shivraj Singh Chouhan together as members of the Vajpayee-BJP, there is one very pertinent difference between the two. Chouhan or Mamaji, as he is known in the state, is a sitting Chief Minister and thus runs the ire of anti-incumbency. Most pollsters are in fact tipping the scales in favour of former Congress CM Kamal Nath who has been working hard for the party’s revival. Plus Nath has a score to settle with the BJP, which stole his seat from under his nose. Rajasthan, on the other hand, is a different story, with Vasudhara Raje still the tallest BJP leader in the state. Both Chouhan and Vasundhara are reportedly not in favour with the Big Two in Delhi, but it would be much more difficult to ignore Raje’s claims to the Chief Minister’s chair should the BJP be in a position to form government post polls. The only way the BJP can sideline her is if it gets a comfortable margin (around 130 plus seats in the 200-strong state Assembly). If that happens then Vasundhara and her MLAs won’t be able to sway the leadership in her favour. Otherwise, with a thin majority, it would be difficult to ignore her claims.