By Tridib Raman
BJP has consistently managed to hold on to power, whether through public mandate or without it, sweeping aside both favourable and unfavourable opposition schemes. Since the rise of Arvind Kejriwal and his party AAP in Delhi’s political landscape, the BJP has seen its influence in the capital dwindle. Yet, they have managed to retain control indirectly through the Lt. Governor or Delhi’s bureaucracy. Around three weeks ago, the Union Home Ministry issued a notification clarifying that the Delhi government is no longer authorised to form any board or commission independently. This power now rests solely with the Lt. Governor of Delhi. For those who remember, Naresh Kumar, an IAS officer from the 1987 batch, gave Chief Minister Kejriwal a tough time during his tenure as Chief Secretary of Delhi. Kumar, who retired on August 31, 2024, had previously received two extensions from the central government. Sources indicate that the Centre is determined to bring Naresh Kumar back to strengthen Lt. Governor Vinay Kumar Saxena’s hands and to challenge the AAP government’s functioning. This time, his position might be new—perhaps as “Advisor to the LG” or even as Lokayukt—but the role is expected to be the same: finding ways to hinder the Delhi government’s projects. Naresh Kumar first took up the position of Delhi’s Chief Secretary in 2022 and has consistently caused friction with Kejriwal through his working methods. A new ordinance issued on September 3 grants the Lt. Governor full authority to form any statutory body, effectively making it likely that Naresh Kumar’s return would support BJP’s ambitions.
Theft of 65 Crores from the House of a UP IAS Officer
Before moving forward, it is important to mention that this is the same well-known bureaucrat whose influence has remained constant regardless of which party ruled in Lucknow. During Yogi’s tenure, he was assigned high-profile tasks, even after retirement. This gentleman has a vacation home in Bhimtal, Uttarakhand. One day, it was suddenly discovered that a major burglary had taken place at his Bhimtal home, and 65 crores in cash were missing. There was chaos everywhere, but despite this, no theft report was filed with the local police due to doubts about the source of the cash. The gentleman called some of his trusted police officers to investigate the matter, with the instruction that the media should not get wind of it. However, when the media got a whiff of the matter, the gentleman outright denied owning any house in Bhimtal. Some enthusiastic social media users then made the papers of this house viral on social media, resulting in the gentleman having to remain silent. A similar incident happened in Lucknow when the then Chief Secretary’s daughter’s precious necklace was stolen during her wedding. The Chief Secretary told his close SSP, “There will be no complaint of theft, but it is your responsibility to find the necklace.” Despite a lot of effort, when the thief could not be caught, the SSP told the Secretary, “Sir, please tell me the value of the necklace, I will arrange it from a local jeweller.” But the necklace was so valuable because it had diamonds, so the SSP could not arrange it, and he was transferred from Lucknow. This time, although the gentleman is pretending to recover from the pain of losing 65 crores, Madam’s grief is visible to everyone. After all, this was the gentleman’s hard-earned money, as he had gifted UP projects like Purvanchal Expressway, Bundelkhand, and Ganga Expressway during his tenure.
Could Ram Madhav be the new BJP President?
By Tridib Raman
Speculations are rife about the new BJP president. Ever since the name of Sanjay Joshi, who had been forgotten in the saffron corridors, has resurfaced, the number of visitors at his residence at Doctors’ Lane in New Delhi has increased. Around 100-150 chairs have been placed on the lawn in front of his house, but the stream of visitors shows no signs of stopping. However, the RSS leadership has not openly supported Sanjay Joshi yet. Observers say that the buzz around Joshi’s name had become so dominant within the party cadre that Amit Shah suddenly visited the RSS headquarters in Nagpur recently. Sources say that the BJP leadership has conveyed to the RSS that making Joshi the party president is not feasible as it would hinder the coordination between the party and the government. However, they can consider making him BJP’s organisational general secretary to facilitate coordination between the BJP and the RSS. Currently, this role is held by B.L. Santosh. It is said that the RSS has reserved its opinion on this matter. Meanwhile, another discussion has started gaining momentum. If Ram Madhav succeeds in getting a Hindu Chief Minister elected in the Muslim-majority state of Jammu & Kashmir in the recent elections, he might be considered for the position of BJP president as a reward. Although Ram Madhav has been sidelined from the BJP’s mainstream politics since 2020, it is said that he has remained a favourite of both the RSS and Prime Minister Modi. He has continued to plan Modi’s foreign tours and connect with the Indian community abroad as he did before. Despite allegations of fund misuse against him, his opponents have not been able to provide concrete evidence. Ram Madhav was never a personal favourite of the party and the government’s second-in-command, which might be why he had to endure political exile.
Solid Arrangements to Corner Hemant Soren
By Tridib Raman
Speculations are rife that Jharkhand elections might be held alongside Maharashtra in the second week of November. While the current assembly term in Maharashtra ends on November 25, 2024, Jharkhand’s current assembly term ends on January 5, 2025. The last assembly elections in Jharkhand were held in five phases from November 30 to December 20. Despite numerous efforts, the BJP has not been able to topple Hemant Soren’s government in Jharkhand, even though several BJP stalwarts have been working on this for years, opening their coffers. However, Hemant Soren has not been playing a weak game either. This time, Hemant Soren is looking for a comeback to power as he has the full support of Congress and other anti-BJP parties. Political observers currently see an advantage for Soren in Jharkhand. Soren, along with his supporting parties, has consolidated the Tribal, Muslim, and Christian vote bank in his favour, which together constitute about 45% of the state’s population. There are about 28 ST reserved seats in the state where the BJP’s performance has been quite poor so far; in the last assembly elections, the BJP won only 2 out of these 28 seats. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP faced defeat in all 6 seats here. To counter this, the BJP has devised a new strategy this time, asking all its prominent tribal leaders to contest from tribal-dominated seats. For instance, Babulal Marandi, who has been contesting from general seat, has been asked to contest from Dumka. Madhu Koda, who has been contesting from Jagannathpur since 2000 and has never lost, will be in the fray again. Champai Soren, who recently joined the BJP, has been winning from Seraikela since 1991 and will contest under the BJP banner this time. Arjun Munda, who lost from Kharsawan last time, has been asked to field his wife from this tribal-dominated seat. Samir Oraon has also been asked to finalise a seat for himself. Additionally, the BJP is forming an electoral alliance with AJSU and Sudesh Mahto to break into the Mahto vote bank, and is also courting another young Mahto community leader, Jairam Mahato. Notably, in the recent Lok Sabha elections, Jairam, as an independent candidate from Giridih Lok Sabha seat, garnered around three and a half lakh votes. His supported candidate from Dhanbad parliamentary seat received one and a half lakh votes.
Ajit Pawar: Neither Here Nor There
In the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra, NCP leader Ajit Pawar is feeling extremely suffocated. He seems eager to leave this alliance, but his uncle Sharad Pawar, who is still upset with him, is not extending a welcoming hand. On the contrary, Sharad Pawar has filed a petition in the Supreme Court to freeze the NCP’s ‘clock’ symbol. After the party split, Ajit’s faction was considered the real one and was allowed to keep the clock symbol, while Sharad Pawar’s party was allotted a new symbol of a ‘man blowing a trumpet’. In the recent Lok Sabha elections, Sharad Pawar’s faction won 9 seats, while Ajit had to be content with just one seat. Recently, Maharashtra’s Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis stirred things up by saying, “Our voters did not like Ajit joining us, but we have fixed it up to 80% now.” Currently, there are 12 MLC seats coming up in Maharashtra, and there is pressure on the BJP to give half of these seats to its ally parties, i.e., 3 to the Shinde faction and 3 to Ajit’s faction. If the BJP agrees and gives three seats to Ajit Pawar, then it will become Ajit’s moral responsibility to support the ‘Mahayuti’ in the assembly elections as well.
Vande Bharat or a Burden on Passengers?
The slogan ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ seems to be fading. There is increasing buzz about the privatisation of Indian Railways. The number of passenger trains is decreasing daily, being replaced by Vande Bharat trains, whose fares are almost one and a half times higher than those of regular trains. This means that Indian Railways is gradually becoming out of reach for the common man. As for railway safety, the past four months have exposed its flaws. Since June, there have been frequent reports of train accidents.In its defence, it is claimed that “Pakistan’s malicious intent is behind the disruption of our rail services, with Pakistani ‘sleeper cells’ at work.” Can Indian agencies simply fulfil their responsibilities by making such statements? Shouldn’t there be questions about why, if these Pakistani sleeper cells are active, our intelligence agencies are not preventing them? Are they focused solely on Rahul Gandhi?
Cash Dominates Amid Membership Campaign
Sources say that these days a lot of money is being exchanged for BJP posts in Uttar Pradesh, from district-level positions to various party cells. Those involved justify this by saying, ‘When the election is to be fought and won on Modi-Yogi’s face, what does it matter who the others are?’ The party has also started an active membership campaign, where each member is tasked with enrolling 100 new members. On paper, the target appears to have been met, but in reality, very few have even come close.
