Opinion Summer junkets

Rajnath Singh’s appointment of Narendra Modi’s lieutenant Amit Shah as the general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh was done in the hope that the Gujarat Chief Minister would concentrate on UP during the general elections. If the BJP is to emerge as a front-runner in the 2014 elections,a major improvement in its electoral performance in UP is crucial. But the badly divided local leadership is unable to provide any direction. Singh is banking on Modi’s development agenda giving a fillip to the BJP campaign and Modi’s OBC caste (Ghanchi) proving an asset among OBC voters. Modi,meanwhile,is keen to be declared the party’s official prime ministerial candidate before the polls and,if that is not possible,he wants to be appointed chairperson of the campaign committee. However,L K Advani is doing his best to scuttle this move. Advani is pushing for Nitin Gadkari to be made chairperson. Although Advani was among the first to demand that Gadkari step down as party chief,he is now making overtures towards him. He is aware that Gadkari remains close to the RSS and is one of the few persons who might be able to stop Modi in his tracks.

Making it official

Shakeel Ahmed,Mohan Prakash,Bhakta Charan Das,Raj Babbar and Meem Afzal were recently appointed spokespersons of the Congress. This is in addition to the existing team,which includes Renuka Chowdhury and Sandeep Dikshit. All the spokespersons get their official briefing on the party line from Janardhan Dwivedi,who heads the media cell. But the unauthorised party spokespersons continue to hog centrestage on TV,much to the chagrin of the official media team. Most prominent among them is Sanjay Jha,who lists his occupation as executive director of the Dale Carnegie Training operations. Jha had no locus standi except for running a portal titled hamaracongress.com. Realising that it was unable to prevent the unofficial spokespersons from having their say on TV,the AICC has now caved in. It has added the names of more spokespersons who are entitled to participate in debates and discussions in the media. Jha and several others who are considered part of the Rahul Gandhi brigade are on the list.

Tweeting his goodbye

Former senior RAW official and security analyst B Raman is suffering from cancer that has spread from his blood to his liver. Despite the pain and disability,Raman has been tweeting about the disease: “Sinking slowly but steadily,a losing battle.’’ “Unbearable pain,trying to sleep sans morphine.’’ “I no longer have the courage to live longer,planning to formalise my will’’. Amidst his suffering,Raman even endorsed Narendra Modi for prime minister,“Back NaMo for PM. He may not live up to expectations but he will be refreshingly different,’’ he tweeted. The tweet has elicited a grateful acknowledgment from the Gujarat government.

Mulayam missing

At the dinner hosted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for Chinese premiere Li Keqiang,Mulayam Singh Yadav did not show up. Yadav did not inform in advance that he would be skipping the dinner. The government should,however,have recalled Yadav’s anti-China statements in Parliament recently. He had warned the government it should not trust the Chinese. He claimed that the Chinese would attack India at some stage.

Not just the stars

BJP president Rajnath Singh took five months to allocate organisational duties to party office-bearers. Singh vacillated for so long before announcing the names of his new team that it was assumed that he was waiting for his in-house astrologer,Sudhanshu Trivedi,to give the green signal. There was an equally long wait before the office- bearers were informed of their responsibilities. The delay is not just because of the stars,as is being whispered in a section of the party. Singh is caught between pulls and pressures from different factions. General secretary (organisation) Ram Lal,who is the RSS’s nominee,had a major say in several appointments.