Mirch Masala

By Tridib Raman

The author is a journalist and political commentator and views expressed are his personal

THE BUGLE OF ‘24 AND OPENING OF NEW DOORS OF s the time for the 2024 general elections is coming closer, the saffron politics is also taking new forms everyday. Ammunition for change in political atmosphere is burning, so BJP has already started its permutation and combination for each and every seat of Lok Sabha. Many new rules and regulations are being framed, like the ministers who have been decorated in the Modi govt with Rajya Sabha quota have been asked to find a suitable seat for themselves in their respective home states, from where they can contest the next Lok Sabha elections. When Modi became the sole face of BJP in 2014, he had decided that no party leader would get Rajya Sabha term more than 2 times. Former Union Min Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi also did not get the next chance be-

cause of his formula. Another formula of Modi made place in saffron headlines that leaders above 75 will not get ministerial post. Under this formula, Yediyurappa had to leave the post of CM in Karnataka. BJP strategists are already busy in brainstorming meetings regarding 2024. The echoes emanating from these meetings are also being heard clearly that more than one-third of the sitting MPs may be denied tickets in big Hindi heartland states like UP, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh. At the same time, some ministers and legislators of the UP government can also get tickets for the Lok Sabha elections. These names include leaders like Jitin Prasada, Rajeshwar Singh, Brajesh Pathak, Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Pratap Singh in this list. Former ED officer Rajeshwar Singh is said to be a favorite of Amit Shah.

More than 6 months have passed since Mallikarjun Kharge became the Congress President, but he still has not been able to form his new team. It is said that the 47 members of Kharge’s steering committee are very active behind this, who do not want the party president to ignore their utility with the announcement of his new team. Kharge is also under pressure from Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to announce his new team as soon as possible.

It is said that for last 2-3 days, Kharge is engaged in a marathon meeting with his core team, so that he can give a face to his new team. Sources reveal that preparations are on to give Bhupinder Singh Hooda a ‘freehand’ in the Haryana elections. Hooda is lobbying to give the charge of western UP to his son Deepender Hooda. Former Uttarakhand

CM Harish Rawat, who has expressed his desire to retire from politics, wants to remain a part of the working committee. Both the old and important leaders of MP Congress i.e. Kamal Nath and Digvijay Singh have crossed 75. The party wants to bring forward its young and new faces. The name of Jitu Patwari, a young leader from Madhya Pradesh itself, is coming to the fore, and Kharge wants to assign him an important responsibility in his team.

Recently, a purported letter from Congress’ ‘powerful’ General Secretary KC Venugopal reached UP State Congress President Brijlal Khabri in Hindi, in which Venugopal is talking about canceling the appointments of executive district presidents of Jhansi and Jaunpur. But Khabri had a doubt about this letter from the beginning, so he did not take any action on the recommendations of this letter of Venugopal. Usually whenever any letter is sent from Venugopal’s side, it is in English. It is said that Venugopal does not know Hindi and in such a situation, it is told that the other ie Khabri does not know English properly, so how can a communication bridge be established between the two? This is the biggest question. Anyway, after sending a letter, Venugopal’s office also calls up the concerned person, but Khabri did not receive any call this time. Khabri kept thinking that this letter sent to him was forged, so the posts of the working presidents of Hansi and Jaunpur are still intact.

Recently, Manish Tewari, a prominent leader of Congress’ dissident group G-23, appeared in Bangalore with Rahul Gandhi in an event where Rahul was to flag off free bus travel for women. During this programme, Rahul came and sat in Manish’s car, where a long conversation took place between the two leaders. In fact, it was hotly discussed that Manish, who is angry with the party high command, is in constant contact with BJP and AAP leaders. AAP’s RS member Raghav Chadha also used to visit Manish’s house a lot in Punjab. At the same time, it is said that Manish also has direct talks with Kejriwal. Sources say that a prominent leader associated with the Sangh had also sent an offer to Manish to ‘join’ BJP in past. But Manish, who has been associated with Congress for last 35 years, is hesitant to leave. If sources are to be believed, since the Congress in Punjab is looking for a suitable face the party can bet on Manish Tewari.

CHANDRABABU

COMING CLOSER TO BJP AGAIN t is said that nothing is permanent in politics, neither enmity nor friendship. The Modi govt, which has been handling Jaganmohan Reddy’s tantrums for so many years, is now showing a changed attitude regarding Andhra. Its fragrance was realized when Union Home Minister Amit Shah, in a public meeting in the South, for the first time took a dig at Andhra CM Jaganmohan Reddy and said, “The Jaganmohan govt has not done any work in the state except corruption. Jagan’s cadre loots the money Modi govt of Delhi sends to Andhra.” In fact, there was an alliance between Naidu’s TDP and the BJP in the 2014 general election, in which the BJP won 3 seats. But in 2018, Chandrababu broke his ties with the BJP. But now for the last one year, Chandrababu has been coming to Delhi in the struggle to regain his lost ground in his home state and has been doing rounds of BJP’s top leaders.

Chandrababu’s TDP openly supported Draupadi Murmu, the NDA’s presidential candidate, in this presidential election as well. BJP wants to overcome its weakening mass base in South India, so if it gets Chandrababu’s support in this way, it can present a serious challenge to Chandrasekhar Rao in the coming Telangana assembly elections also because Telugu Desam has won some seats in Telangana, but it still has mass influence. In May next year, along with the Lok Sabha elections, assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh will also be held, where the BJP wants to repeat the history of 2014 by getting Chandrababu’s support.

Do not settle for a lesser goal, make it a short-term one if needed but always keep walking towards your dream goal - Do not give up.

Dr JAGDEESH CHANDRA CEO & Editor-in-Chief, First India