BJP downcast in Punjab and Uttarakhand
Added: (Fri Feb 16 2007)
Pressbox (Press Release) -
Even before the elections results are out gloom appears to have cast its spell over the Bharatiya Janata Party. The BJP leadership is not confident either in Uttarankhand or in Punjab. BJP reports from suggest that Amarinder Singh is likely to do well particularly in the BJP seats. The BJP leadership is also downcast over the Sachcha Sauda sect’s sudden support to the Congress. Fingers are already being pointed at Arun Jaitly the party general secretary in charge of Punjab for having goofed up there. He is being held responsible for giving tickets to weak candidates. Internal reports of BJP suggest that the party is unlikely to win more than 10 out of 23 seats in Punjab. Whereas independent reports suggest that the party is likely to win only seven to eight seats. Sukhbir Singh Badal the high profile son of Akali top man Prakash Singh Badal too is said to have lodged a complaint with the BJP President Rajnath Singh against Jaitley for giving tickets to weak candidates. He has also told Rajnath that Navjot Sidhu is winning from the Akali strongholds but is losing in the BJP support base area.’ Sukhbir has been heard saying that the BJP in Punjab is a ‘Murda Party’ (dead party) and Jaitley who is supposed to be an expert poll manager has no clue of Punjab. If the Akalis fail to form the government in Punjab it would be because of the BJP.’ Party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad who was incharge of elections in Uttaranchal too is under fire. The BJP insiders claim that the party is not sure of forming the government even in Uttarankhand despite the infighting in Congress. The party it seems has failed to en-cash upon the anti-incumbency factor and the Congress drawbacks in the hill state.
2.Clouds of change are hovering over the deserts of Rajasthan. The Rajasthan Chief minister Vasundhara Raje Scindhia‘s throne is under serious threat. The threat this time appears to be serious. Revolt is brewing in the state against the Chief Minister. Three senior most ministers of Rajasthan Government, the home minister and the number two in the cabinet Gulab chand Kataria, the education minister Ghanshyam Tiwari and one minister of state Madan Dilawar last week met the BJP President Rajnath Singh and have threatened to resign if Vasundhara was not removed with immediate effect. Kataria is supposed to claim the support of another nine ministers. He claimed that he was carrying the resignations of these nine ministers. Over two dozen Adivasi MLAs too have threatened to resign if Vasundhara was not replaced immediately. The ministers who met Rajnath Singh have leveled serious charges of corruption against her. They are supposed to have said that it is one industrialist Lalit Modi who is running the state by proxy and allegedly striking deals. He appears to have replaced Sudhanshu Mittal who was earlier charged of similar allegations. Mittal however is out of scene after the death of Pramod Mahajan. These ministers have said that if the chief minister is not changed immediately the party will lose the next election in the state scheduled in 2008.Rajnath Singh has promised to look into the matter. Kalraj Mishra who is incharge of Rajasthan has been dispatched to Jaipur to assess the situation. Meanwhile BJP can also split in Gujarat where 25 anti Modi MLAs majority of whom are tribals are in touch with the Congress . The Congress leadership however has kept them on hold.
3. So President Abdul Kalam would finally re-contest. The buzz is that the President has given in to the BJP pressure of fielding him for a second term. Earlier he had expressed his reservations and had said that that he would contest only if there was consensus on his name has now agreed to contest again even if he is not a consensus candidate. Meanwhile Mulayam Singh Yadav who had supported his candidature last time has an exclusive eye on the post of the President. Mulayam Singh and his man Friday Amar Singh have floated the name of the Bollywood big man Amitabh Bachchan. By floating BIG B’s name they are tapping on the response. The other name making serious rounds is of Congress veteran and the sitting Chief minister of Uttarakhand Narain Dutt Tiwari. Tiwari is hectically lobbying for it. The Brahmin lobby in the Congress is backing his candidature. Pranab Mukherjee and Karan Singh are the other two Congress names . The names of the former chief justice E Ahmadi and Jamia Millia Vice Chancellor Mushirul Hasan are also n the queue. So is the Union minister for power Sushil Kumar Shinde and then who can overlook the Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee. He too is a serious contender. But the final verdict has to come from the queen’s palace.