Making the right entry
Politics is all about nuances. Those looking for such signs have already made note that during the recent round of meetings, the first time when ace strategist Prashant Kishor visited 10 Janpath he was given entry through the Janpath entrance and not via the more publicised Akbar Road gate. The difference between the two is that while the Akbar Road entrance is more public, the Janpath one is usually reserved for family and special guests. Which itself is a statement of the equation between the Congress (interim) president and Kishor. In fact, Kishor has also kept in touch with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra ever since 2017 when he had proposed that she should be the Congress Chief Ministerial face for Uttar Pradesh. (This suggestion was nixed by Sonia Gandhi). As for other Congress leaders, there is a faction that is opposing Kishor’s entry claiming that he had been critical of the party leadership as recently as the just concluded state polls. However, sources close to Kishor claim that as far as he is concerned the criticism was political, not personal, and this holds true even of Congress leaders like Bhupesh Baghel, Pawan Khera, etc., who had launched a counter attack on Kishor. So, will both sides let bygones be bygones?
Gujarat Polls Primer
Who is behind Hardik Patel’s recent praise for BJP? One reason of course is that he is seeing the Congress throwing its weight behind a fellow Patidar, Naresh Patel. In fact, part of PK’s formula for Gujarat is to promote Naresh Patel, Shankersinh Vaghela and Jignesh Mevani over the other state leaders. But Hardik is also said to be close to Amit Shah. Which makes one wonder as to the timing of his sudden outburst. Don’t forget that within the state BJP too there is the Amit Shan faction as well as the Anandiben group. And currently it is the latter camp that holds sway, with both the state CM Bhupendra Patel and the state BJP chief, C.R. Patil owing their allegiance to the current Governor of Uttar Pradesh. Another interesting factoid is the resentment against the Congress in-charge of the state, Dr Raghu Sharma, who is an export from Rajasthan. Dr Sharma is known to play up to the Congress central leadership but has not been able to strike a chord with the local leaders, who are said to be offended by his somewhat feudal working style. With the Aam Aadmi Party also eyeing Gujarat the Congress has its work cut out in the state.
State vs Lok Sabha polls
If Prashant Kishor comes on board, will he be planning the Congress strategy for the coming Assembly elections? According to sources, Kishor has made it clear that his priority would be the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and he would not like to get sidetracked with state polls. The Congress is a player in Himachal, Gujarat and Karnataka, apart from the four state polls at the end of 2023 that are seen as semi-finals—Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and even Delhi. However, knowing the Congress it is quite capable of scoring self-goals. As far as Prashant Kishor is concerned, he wants to focus on how to defeat BJP in the Lok Sabha and for this he will not just be focusing on the Congress but also allies that can help achieve this end. Don’t forget he is also advising the DMK, TRS, YSRCP and TMC. Then, would it be fair to say that PK is looking to revive the UPA and not just the Congress?
Game of Thrones in MP?
The BJP Madhya Pradesh unit is seeing some interesting undercurrents. State home minister Narrotam Mishra has been in the headlines recently following the stone pelting incident at Khargone. He was the face of the state’s bulldozer response that followed. Mishra is said to be close to the central leadership in Delhi. He is also taking on former Congress CM Kamal Nath advising the latter that at this age he should be giving blessings (ashirwaad), not threats (dhamkis). This is when Nath cautioned the state administrative machinery not to play political games. If there is a chance of a regime change in the state then Mishra could be one of the contenders, along with Jyotiraditya Scindia, who is also the flavour of the season. But, so far current CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan has not given the central leadership any tangible reason to remove him. So, watch this space for some political jostling. As far as the Congress is concerned, Kamal Nath seems to be leading the charge. With no other leader on the horizon (apart from his old friend Digvijaya Singh) he has begun prepping the Congress for the next state polls which are nearly two years away. Nath has also stated that regardless of whether Kishor joins or not the Madhya Pradesh Congress unit (read Nath himself) has begun its preparations to take on the BJP. The jostling is going on in both camps it seems.
Aptly Named Committee
The Gandhis must be ruing the moniker given to an internal committee to chart the road ahead for the Congress. The Committee for Future Challenges was set up more than a decade ago under Veerappa Moily’s stewardship with Rahul Gandhi, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sachin Pilot, Sandeep Dikshit and Mukul Wasnik amongst its members. Now it seems that most of them are part of the “challenges” facing the Gandhis.