Cool Breeze: Never underestimate Diggy Raja

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE DIGGY RAJA

While the focus in Madhya Pradesh Congress is on the high profile rallies being held by Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia as each tries to portray himself as the party’s best Chief Ministerial face, some are wondering what Digvijaya Singh is up to. Knowing him, he is not sitting idle, but is busy working on the ground, touring the state and getting feedback from party workers. This kind of connect will be useful when it comes to deciding party tickets—and who knows, even when it comes to choosing the CM aspirant. At the very least, it could see rehabilitation for the veteran leader at the Congress Working Committee level, for Singh hasn’t taken too kindly to being dropped from the apex body.

RIGHT-WING PLAYS THE SHARMILA CARD

There is a reason why posters of Sharmila Tagore suddenly made an appearance at the World Hindu Congress held in Chicago, accusing her of being a victim of love jihad when she married Nawab Pataudi and converted to Islam. Hardline right-wingers talk about how Kareena Kapoor married Saif Ali Khan and didn’t convert. There is a reason why Sharmila, a Bengali by birth, is being singled out for her inter religious marriage. The eye is firmly on the vote in West Bengal where some radical sections of the right-wing want to play up the Hindu-Muslim divide with a local flavour.

IT’S IN THE DNA

Randeep Surjewala has certainly recalled the Congress party’s Brahmin DNA at a time the upper castes have united against the government’s amendments to the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act. Of course, it’s another matter that the Congress too supported the amendment in Parliament, but this is part of a course correction within the Congress to extend it ambit from just a party of the under-privileged and minorities. After all, when it comes to DNA, the Congress is a legacy of Pandit Nehru and it was only during the UPA years that it lost this connect as it took on the role of a bleeding heart NGO, catering mostly to tribals, dalits and minorities.