Seat adjustments

In the 2004 general elections, there was a concerted effort to deny Lok Sabha tickets to the BJP’s Generation Next — Pramod Mahajan, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley. The ostensible reason was that their services were required for the party’s overall campaign. But the aging next generation is finally being given a chance to make its mark in the House of the People. Meanwhile, Varun Gandhi, who is under 30, will probably be contesting from Pilibhit, a constituency which his mother has won six times. While the Amethi-Rai Bareilly belt has stuck loyally with the Nehru-Gandhi family for historical reasons, Maneka has established her own sphere of influence in UP’s Terrai. She will be contesting from Pilibhit’s neighbouring constituency Aonla, where she had helped a JD(U) candidate win the last time.

BJP President Rajnath Singh plans to stand from Ghaziabad, a largely urban seat in western UP. To secure his own seat, the BJP president is anxious for a tie-up with the RLD and is willing to concede to all of Ajit Singh’s demands. Since the constituency has a sizable number of Gurjjar voters, Singh even pressed for the removal of Vasundara Raje as Rajasthan Chief Minister because of her battle with the Gurjjars over reservations.

Rankle over ranks

The Congress heavyweights of Madhya Pradesh have made it clear that they have no intention of taking orders from the state PCC chief Suresh Pachauri, whom they consider far too junior. When Pachauri called a meeting of the PCC in Delhi last week to discuss preparations for the forthcoming state Assembly elections, he had per force to hold the meeting at Kamal Nath’s house. In fact, Nath, who many believe may be projected as the party’s chief ministerial candidate, was the only stalwart present. Arjun Singh, Digvijay Singh and Satyavrath Chaturvedi did not show up as they were out of town.

... contd.