Why Sachin will not do a Scindia
There is a buzz that the BJP is eyeing Rajasthan as the next state ripe for picking. Certainly with the Rajya Sabha polls due soon, state CM and Congress leader Ashok Gehlot has sequestered all his MLAs in a resort. There were rumours that the Sachin Pilot camp could be targeted, as well as the 10 Independent MLAs supporting his government. Gehlot has gone on record to say Rs 25 to Rs 30 cr are being offered to his men to defect. (Kamal Nath had claimed a similar sum was given to his MLAs who switched camps). But will Pilot be tempted to do a Scindia? Before doing so he should take a lesson from Scindia’s plight, for he certainly doesn’t enjoy the same heft in the BJP as he did in the Congress. It’s ironic that one of the reasons that Scindia quit was because Rahul Gandhi was not accessible. Well, one wonders how accessible he is going to find the Modi and Shah duo. As for Shivraj Chouhan, the MP CM is not going to suffer any aspirants to the throne any more easily than did Kamal Nath. So in the end all Scindia has got for his troubles is a Rajya Sabha seat. Certainly Sachin’s ambitions are somewhat higher than that. And he has a better chance of realising these within the Congress than with the BJP.
Nikhil Alva Gets Social. Or not.
Suddenly we have seen Nikhil Alva become very active on social media. The low key St Stephen’s college graduate is a key member of Rahul Gandhi’s team but he usually keeps away from the media, both social and anti social (read, mainstream). However of late his Twitter account has shown some unusual amount of activity as he fact checks journalists for their perceived pro Modi bias; also fact checks government handouts (include both Delhi and Central) and retweets those tweets that fit with the Congress narrative. Well, it’s gloves off now, at least on his Twitter timeline. Until now it was just the BJP IT cell team that was fact checking and calling out those who opposed the PM; now the Congress team seems to have swung into action as well.
Missing Akhilesh and Mayawati
During the entire Covid lockdown and thereafter the migrant crisis, two key voices have been missing from the political theatre—both Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav were silent during the entire migrant crisis, leaving it to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to take on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The jury is still out as to who won the Battle of the Buses though we do know who lost—the migrant workers who had to trek home to UP as their state government played traffic police issuing challans to the buses organised by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for not having their fitness certificates in place. But, all in all, one would have expected either Akhilesh or Mayawati to take up the cause of the migrants with the UP CM. That they were not as vocal as the Congress is interesting, and also points to a vacuum in the state’s opposition space. A space that Priyanka seems more than eager to step into.