Supriya’s Goodwill, Pawar’s Balancing Act
Supriya Sule, daughter of NCP leader Sharad Pawar, recently offered her New Delhi residence at 81, Lodhi Estate, designated for her party's headquarters, to a senior Congress leader. The leader, a first-time MP with a small government residence, accepted the offer due to the need for a larger space to accommodate his visitors. Supriya recognized the situation's sensitivity and extended the offer. Meanwhile, Sharad Pawar has struggled to maintain his influence in Maharashtra. When he converses with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, Thackeray candidly remarks on Pawar's reputed close relationship with Modi, suggesting that Pawar communicates with Modi at least twice a month. Thackeray also mentions that Modi has promised to include Pawar's daughter in his government after the Bihar elections.
In this episode, the elder Pawar invited some of his close journalists to his house for dinner and while talking to them 'off the record', he said - I want that we should strengthen our role by being in the opposition, these days the Sharad Pawar family is showing so much faith in the Congress.
Why are NDA's OBC leaders restless?
According to reports, around two weeks ago, a significant meeting occurred between Union Minister and Apna Dal (Sonewal) leader Anupriya Patel and Sanjay Nishad, a key figure in UP's Mallah politics. Anupriya reportedly expressed her concerns, stating, 'The BJP doesn't prioritize us, and with only 6-7 seats, we are at risk of being sidelined. Since your son also lost the election, your situation is even more challenging.' Sanjay Nishad is advocating for the smaller parties in UP to unite and create a 'joint platform' to negotiate effectively with the BJP leadership. In this context, these leaders also communicated with Union Minister Jayant Chaudhary. Jayant was informed that 'we must unite on a single platform to demonstrate our collective strength, which is essential to exert any influence on the BJP leadership.' It is believed that Jayant Chaudhary is somewhat dissatisfied with the BJP leadership because, despite being appointed as the minister of the Skill Development Ministry, his ministry has not received any funds in the past year, making him feel like a 'minister without portfolio.' Subsequently, discussions have also been held with Om Prakash Rajbhar, a prominent leader of the backward classes in UP, regarding the formation of this new platform. Currently, these leaders have devised a collective strategy to conduct rallies and public relations campaigns in their respective regions, aiming to convey to the BJP that 'they are not in power solely due to the support of the forward castes; they equally need the backing of the backward castes.'
Chirag Reprimanded
Just two-three days ago, BJP summoned Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan and gave him a good lesson. Actually, there is a state of confusion about Chirag in Bihar elections, sometimes the news comes that he will contest alone on all 243 seats of Bihar, sometimes that he can coordinate seats with Prashant Kishore's party Jansuraj. On this, a senior BJP leader summoned Chirag and asked him bluntly - You are giving different statements at different places, we are confused about what you will do? On this, Chirag said that 'he wants to strengthen the hands of NDA by staying in NDA, but BJP should tell how many seats it will leave for him.' It is said that on this the said big BJP leader said that we will talk about seats later, first you issue a statement that you will contest the elections by staying within NDA.' Actually, BJP has its own opinion poll behind this whole story. Sources reveal that recently BJP has conducted an internal survey in Bihar, this survey was called to measure the temperature after the uproar over 'SIR' and vote theft. The results of this survey show that if BJP contests all the seats on its own this time, then it can be limited to 70-75 seats, if it contests with Lok Janshakti i.e. Chirag, then it can increase its number by 10 seats, but if it goes to the election with JDU, then it can reach close to the required majority figures. Anyway, Nitish has clearly told the BJP leadership that 'the alliance is not going to get any special benefit from Chirag Paswan staying or not, if BJP wants to leave seats for Chirag, then it should leave them from its quota.'
Where did Dhankhar's influence go?
It's been a month, but the country's former vice-president Jagdeep Dhankhar is nowhere to be seen, he is even avoiding meeting anyone. It is said that just last week, a group of Jat leaders from western UP reached his residence to meet him, they were made to sit with respect, were offered tea and later they were told that Dhankhar ji is not meeting anyone right now, when he starts meeting people, you people will also be called. But still the puzzle is not being solved as to why suddenly the BJP high command showed him the way out? A reliable source associated with him claims that Dhankhar had been busy in increasing his interaction with opposition leaders in the recent past (since the opposition, especially the Congress, had threatened to impeach him).
Especially his insistence on Rahul Gandhi was not being accepted by the BJP top brass. He was meeting TMC leaders, Arvind Kejriwal and telling them – money drain and brain drain is happening, if you do not correct the situation now, it will be very difficult in the future. Sources also claim that he advised an important Congress leader that he should talk to leaders like Chandrababu and Eknath Shinde. It is said that a big leader of Delhi, called BJP's 'B team', informed about Dhankhar's sentiments to the BJP top, this leader also told the BJP top that 'Dhankhar is helping in preparing a faction of 300 MPs of the anti-Dhankhar group', then what happened was that the BJP top, red with anger, wrote the script for Dhankhar's departure.
…and in the end
After a considerable period, Congress appears determined to assert its influence in Bihar's electoral arena in a systematic way. Reports suggest that Congress has provided Tejashwi Yadav with a list of its prospective candidates. It is believed that this list includes 6-7 seats from the Kosi region. Additionally, it is reported that while Tejashwi has no issues with the other seats on the list, he is unwilling to concede the Kosi region seats to Congress. Tejashwi suspects that Congress is indirectly seeking these seats for Pappu Yadav. Rahul Gandhi's 'Vote Rights Yatra' commenced in Bihar on August 17. The outcome of this yatra will determine Rahul's ability to negotiate with Tejashwi over the Kosi region seats. Currently, Rahul appears quite pleased with the reception he is receiving in Bihar.