Trouble brewing in BJP over its opposition to dynasty politics

By Ajay Jha

NEW DELHI, Sept 23: Bharatiya Janata Party’s opposition to dynastic politics has landed it in a trouble in several states. Supporters of BJP leader Varun Gandhi on Monday protested outside the house of senior leader Shyama Charan Gupta in Allahabad and pelted stones for Gupta criticising federal minister and Varun’s mother Maneka Gandhi.

Maneka had suggested that time was ripe for the BJP to bring Varun back in Uttar Pradesh politics following party’s failure to retain eight of the 11 seats in assembly by-elections last week.

Varun was the first casualty of BJP’s opposition to dynastic politics as he was dropped as the party’s national general secretary last month when the new BJP president Amit Shah named new set of office bearers. The logic given was that both mother and son cannot be given big posts at the same time.

Varun, 34, was dropped as a BJP office bearer even while BJP is trying to promote the younger leaders. Many saw it as a punishment for Maneka daring to suggest Varun as chief ministerial candidate for 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

Maneka, Varun and Gupta represent Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha and were elected from Pilibhit, Sultanpur and Allahabad respectively.

BJP’s aversion to dynastic politics came to fore during the last general elections with the now prime minister Narendra Modi repeatedly targeting the Congress party vice president Rahul Gandhi saying he was in race to become the Indian prime minister only because he represents the famous Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that has given India three prime ministers in Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajeev Gandhi.

Since then BJP is sticking to its opposition to promoting families within its ranks much to the chagrin of some of the party leaders who say it is being used selectively.

In the poll-bound northern state Haryana, the BJP’s central leadership denied requests of many senior leaders to nominate their family members as candidates for October 15 elections in the state. However, it did not prevent BJP from announcing foreign minister Sushma Swaraj’s younger sister Vandana Sharma as its candidate from Safidon seat of Jind district.

Vandana, a retired college teacher, is a housewife with no political background. BJP has since explained that it does not apply to Vandana since Swaraj is an MP from Madhya Pradesh.

Vandana is basically seen as a proxy candidate for Swaraj who may be asked to take over as Haryana chief minister in case BJP manages to emerge victorious in the upcoming elections. In that case, Vandana would vacate the seat for her sister.

In the process the party has overlooked claims of another federal minister Rao Inderjeet Singh who wanted his daughter Arti Rao to be fielded from Rewari seat of south Haryana.

Sukhbir Jaunpuria, an MP from Rajasthan, wanted nomination for his son from Sohna seat of Gurgaon district. Ashok Jaunpuria Monday announced that he would contest as an independent candidate.

Incidentally, the party had no hesitation nominating senor Uttar Pradesh leader Lalji Tandon’s son Ashutosh Tandon from Lucknow East seat of Uttar Pradesh which he won by a comfortable margin.

BJP has decided against projecting its chief ministerial candidates in all four poll-bound states, namely Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir saying it will seek votes in the name of prime minister Modi.

Bye-elections results indicate Modi magic is on wane

By Ajay Jha

NEW DELHI, Sept 16: Newton's law of motion says what goes up must come down. However, what Prime Minister Narendra Modi may never have imagined that the fall would be so rapid that within four months of helping his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to a defining victory questions would be raised about a painstakingly cultivate image of being a mass leader.

What must alarm Modi and the BJP which he indirectly controls through his Man Friday Amit Shah who now heads the party is that rejection by voters are coming from all concerns of the country. It all started in Uttarakhand in July where the state's ruling Congress party won all three seats in the assembly bye-elections including two seats vacated by BJP.

The same trend was seen in August when BJP failed to retain four seats and could manage to win just seven of the 18 assembly seats from four states where bye-elections were held.

In the latest round of bye-elections for 32 assembly seats spread across nine states, BJP failed to retain 14 seats and could win just a dozen seats. What is going to hurt Modi the most is the rejection by his fellow Gujarat voters as the rival Congress party managed to snatch three seats in the state, that too just a day before his birthday. Modi landed in Ahmedabad for the first time on Tuesday after becoming the prime minister in May only to learn about the BJP's poor show and a sure revival of the Congress party.

The bigger worry for the BJP is if this string of defeats would have an impact on the upcoming assembly elections in four states. While Maharashtra and Haryana are scheduled to go to polls next month, Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand are slated to elect their new state legislative assemblies later this year.

BJP under Shah has already announced that it would not project any local leader as its chief ministerial candidate in any of these states and seek votes on the name of Modi.

The Lok Sabha victory emboldened BJP so much he opted to snap its three-year old ties with the regional Haryana Janhit Congress party and is going to polls on its own in the northern state. Its decades-old alliance with the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra is on the verge of cracking due to BJP's soaring ambitions and misplaced confidence that brand Modi will see it through all hurdles.

Expectedly, there was eerie silence in the BJP after Tuesday defeats and the party would try to insulate Modi by terming the defeats to local factors while Modi gets ready to receive the Chinese President Xi Jinping in his home state Gujarat on Wednesday.

There are murmurs in the BJP that Modi's autocratic style of functioning which may have been good for a smaller state like Gujarat may not work while ruling a vast country like India, a systematic isolation of seniors in the party has also contributed as workers on the ground are getting disenchanted and disillusioned the manner Modi and company has treated party founders like Lal Krishna Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi.

Don't celebrate my birthday, instead help J&K: Modi

NEW DELHI, Sept 14: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday appealed to friends and well-wishers not to celebrate his birthday and instead dedicate time and resources towards relief work in this hour of need for flood-ravaged Jammu and Kashmir.

Mr. Modi's appeal came amid plans to celebrate his birthday on September 17 across the country, including in Gujarat where he will be present that day.

"I am hearing from different places that friends & well-wishers are planning various programmes and events for my birthday. My humble request - do not celebrate my birthday.

"Instead, dedicate yourselves towards relief work in Jammu and Kashmir through your time and resources. The need of the hour is to stand shoulder to shoulder with our sisters and brothers of Jammu and Kashmir," Mr. Modi tweeted ahead of his 64th birthday.

Mr. Modi, who will be in Gujarat on September 17, will start his day by taking blessings of his 95-year-old mother Hiraba following which celebrations by state administration and BJP have been planned to mark his birthday.

But the Prime Minister said "there will be no birthday celebrations".

"On 17th, President Xi Jinping will be in Gujarat. We look forward to extending a warm welcome to him but there will be no birthday celebrations," Mr. Modi said.

Maharashtra and Haryana to vote on October 15

By Ajay Jha

NEW DELHI, Sept 12: Two opposition Congress party ruled states Maharashtra and Haryana will vote to elect their new state legislative assemblies on October 15.

India's autonomous Election Commission on Friday announced schedule for polling in the two states. Chief Election Commissioner V.S. Sampath said that the poll panel would fix dates for polling in Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand at a later day after assessment of situation once normalcy returns in the flood-ravaged Jammu and Kashmir.

Besides holding polls to elect 288 members of the Maharashtra assembly and 90 members to Haryana assembly, bye-elections to Beed and Kandhamal Lok Sabha constituencies of Maharashtra and Odisha respectively will also take place on October 15. The two constituencies fell vacant following deaths of federal minister Gopinath Munde and the Biju Janata Dal lawmaker Hemendra Chandra Singh. In addition, bye-elections to fill one vacancy each in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat will be held on the same day.

Sampath said that the model code of conduct had come into force with immediate effect and listed several measures the poll panel had initiated to keep polls clean of money and muscle powers.

While the poll process starts with filing of nominations from September 20, counting of votes will take place on October 19.

Stakes are expected to be high for both India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance and its archrival Congress party in the two states for different reasons. The Congress party along with its ally Nationalist Congress Party has been in power in the western state Maharashtra since 1999, Congress party has been ruling the northern state Haryana since 2005. Retaining power in the two states is crucial for revival of the Congress party which suffered a humiliating defeat in the May general elections, it will be an acid test for the Narendra Modi government at the centre and seen as a reality check on Modi's popularity as BJP and its allies had performed exceedingly well in the two states in the general elections.

Maharashtra has total 82591826 voters while Haryana has 16158117. Election Commission will initiate various measures to increase people's participation in the voting process and set up 90403 polling booths in Maharashtra and 16244 polling booths in Haryana.

One of the firsts would be the poll panel's firm decision to ask all candidates not to leave any column of nomination paper blank which will automatically lead to rejection of nomination.

The poll panel announced that it will keep a close watch on election expenses by the candidates to ensure money is not used to allure voters. All candidates have been advices to open separate poll accounts in banks and make all withdrawal from there to meet all poll expenses.

The penal would also closely monitor paid news contents in both print and electronic media.

Power, water supply cut off of former minister Ajit Singh

By Ajay Jha

NEW DELHI, Sept 12: Former federal minister Ajit Singh has been rendered powerless literally with the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) cutting off power and water supply to the bungalow Singh is illegally occupying.

NDMC on Saturday cut off electricity and water supply lines to the 12 Tughlaq Road bungalow following instructions of the federal urban development ministry.

Singh, 75, was defeated from his home constituency Baghpat of western Uttar Pradesh in May general elections while his party Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) drew a blank in the parliamentary polls. Singh was minister for civil aviation in the previous Manmohan Singh government.

The iconic 12 Tughlaq Road bungalow has been allocated to the new sports minister Sarbananda Sonowal who has been staying in a guest house while Singh refuses to vacate the bungalow on some pretext or the other.

The urban development ministry which had sent him eviction notice and several reminders may ask the central public works department (CPWD) to throw away all belongings of Singh from the bungalow if he continues to move out.

A few days ago Singh's supporters foiled attempt of a team sent by the urban development ministry to physically vacate the bungalow as they laid siege around the bungalow.

According to rules, any lawmaker who ceases to be a minister has to vacate the ministerial bungalow and move to a smaller bungalow while those are no longer a lawmaker have to move out within 15 days of formation of the new Lok Sabha. While these rules were not followed sincerely and several politicians continued to live in these big imperial bungalows built by the colonial British government, authorities have adopted no tolerance approach under instructions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The 12 Tughlaq Road bungalow originally was allocated to the former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh, who died in 1987. Singh's family was allowed to stay put in the bungalow and the same was later allotted to his only son Ajit Singh who was already a member of the Rajya Sabha.

Ajit Singh won the Baghpat seat six times and tasted his second ever defeat after 1998 debacle in May general elections at the hands of the former Mumbai Police commissioner Satyapal Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Singh last week said that since he has been living in this particular bungalow for over three decades and has so many memories attached with it, it is not easy for him to move out.

He, however, added that he had rented out a place in South Delhi and would vacate the bungalow the moment maintenance work in South Delhi house is over, without specifying any date for the purpose.

Singh worked as a minister in various governments and is seen as an opportunist politician who aligns with the ruling coalition. The Rashtriya Lok Dal founded by Singh had contested 2009 general elections as an ally of the BJP but joined the Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance when it was reduced to the minorities, enabling him become the civil aviation minister in the Manmohan Singh government.

Modi interacts with millions of students via video conferencing on Teachers' Day

NEW DELHI, Sept 5: In a first-ever initiative, Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with millions of school children across the country via video conferencing on the Teachers Day. He said his top priority was girl eduction, to ensure that schools are close to homes of girls, cleanliness and to ensure toilets in all schools.

In his 90-minute interaction, the Prime Minister said he was talking to states to ensure that schools are set up near the homes of girl children to ensure reduction in their dropouts.

He also stressed on increasing the importance of teaching profession and suggested that all educated, including engineers and doctors, should take classes to make teaching a people's movement necessary for nation-building.

He said the country is facing shortage of teachers and this needs to be changed so that India can "export" teachers.

Lauding girls for excelling in all fields, Modi said educating them means educating two families - parental as well as in-laws but regretted the high drop-out rate.

Referring to his Independence Day address in which he talked about providing toilets in every school, he said the initiative was aimed at curbing dropout.

"I have noticed that girls drop out of schools by the time they reach class 3rd or 4th just because schools don't have separate toilets for them. They don't feel comfortable. There should be toilets for boys and girls in all schools. We should concentrate on girl students not quitting schools," he said.

Talking about his "Digital India" campaign, Modi asked teachers to make best use of technology in teaching without any discrimination and keeping them away from technology would be considered as a "social crime".

When a student asked him about the recipe to become the prime minister, Modi said in a light note, "Start preparing for the 2024 (Lok Sabha) elections. This means I'm safe till then."

The Prime Minister also gave a peep into his own personality by saying he was a "task master" who works hard himself and makes others also work hard.

Giving a pep talk to the students as well as teachers, the Prime Minister emphasised on building respect for the profession of teaching, character building, ensuring cleanliness and skill development.

In this context, he drew comparison with Japan which he visited a few days back and said in that country immense emphasis is laid on cleanliness with teachers and students at times jointly cleaning up the school premises.

"When I was told about it, I said I will have to ask the media.. (because) in Gujarat, when I was the Chief Minister, once students of a school did some cleaning up of school premises and much hue and cry was raised by the media over it," Modi said.

He asked the students to work for fulfilling their dreams and asked teachers not to discriminate with their students on the basis of their capabilities and treat them equally like a mother treats all her children.

Asking children to imbibe the Japanese way which he experienced recently, he said, "They stress on learning. They treat their children equally. Technology is used to the optimum and there is focus on developing a scientific temperament, discipline, cleanliness and respect for all among children."

Asked by a Manipur student on how he can become the Prime Minister, Modi told him to prepare to contest for the 2024 polls while saying it is possible for anyone to be so in a democracy.

He said he does not treat politics as a profession but service. He also said that one should not do things for achieving "gains".