Tridib Raman
For the first time, a direct confrontation between the BJP and the RSS is being witnessed in the elections of the NCUI (National Cooperative Union of India). For the BJP-led central government too, the cooperative movement and the societies under it have become a question of prestige. The latest case is that of the recently concluded NCUI elections. At present, the matter has gone to court and a judicial verdict is expected in the next few days. The dispute began when the central government granted voting rights in the NCUI elections to its three newly formed cooperative societies as well. The RSS-backed ‘Sahakar Bharati’, which holds dominance over the NCUI, held a different view. It believed that these three newly formed cooperative societies, National Cooperative Exports Limited (NCEL), National Cooperative Organics Limited (NCOL) and Bharatiya Beej Sahkari Samiti Limited (BBSSL), should not be given voting rights at least this time. However, these three newly formed societies also exercised their right to vote in this election, while the court’s earlier opinion in this matter was already with Sahakar Bharati. So for now, the ball is in the court’s court. According to sources, even though Sahakar Bharati has dominance on the NCUI board, the central government wants the return of its favourite and the current president, Dilip Sanghani, who has been a BJP MP and MLA from Amreli in Gujarat and had also served as Agriculture, Cooperation and Law Minister in the Narendra Modi government of the state in 2007. On the other hand, the RSS’s first preference is D N Thakur, i.e., Dina Nath Thakur, who has long led India’s largest cooperative organisation Sahakar Bharati and is originally from Bihar. A third player has also entered the fray in the form of Vishal Singh, who is the son-in-law of the well-known BJP leader Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and is currently the president of NCCF. It is believed that from the RSS side, its number two, Dattatreya Hosabale, himself is keeping an eye on the entire election process. It was Dattatreya who assigned BJP’s Organisation General Secretary B.L. Santhosh the important responsibility of looking after the RSS’s interests in this election. Along with Santhosh, Kulwant Chahal had also been working day and night on its management. It is said that Sahakar Bharati alone has so many votes in this election that it will not be easy even for the government to sideline it.
Things are also heating up in KRIBHCO
Tridib Raman
KRIBHCO (Krishak Bharati Cooperative Limited)’s current chairman V. Sudhakar Choudhary will complete one year of his tenure in the coming September. But according to sources, not everything is running normally in KRIBHCO. It is believed that for quite some time now, many important decisions have been stuck because of the board-versus-chairman confrontation. Actually, for a long time KRIBHCO remained under the undeclared control of former SP MP Chandrapal Yadav. When the new elections to the KRIBHCO board were held in September 2025 as well, it is believed that 10 out of the 11 votes were in favour of Chandrapal. The only challenge he was facing was from Andhra’s V. Sudhakar Choudhary, who is considered very close to Chandrababu Naidu and Venkaiah Naidu. According to sources, Chandrababu himself phoned Amit Shah and requested that Sudhakar Choudhary be made the new chairman of KRIBHCO. It is said that after this the BJP Chanakya summoned these 11 board members and asked them whom they wanted to see as the new chairman. Ten of the 11 members together said: “Appoint anyone among us 10 except this Sudhakar Choudhary; we will have no objection.” To this, Chanakya turned the entire game around and said: “What if we want to make Sudhakar Choudhary itself?” Silence fell on the other side, and Choudhary was declared the new chairman of KRIBHCO. But the remaining members are still not able to take Choudhary’s decisions easily. As a result, a situation of confrontation always remains there, and all major decisions move forward only after getting stuck repeatedly.
Bye to the Speaker’s Tea!
This monsoon session of Parliament has been extremely stormy. Such bitterness between the treasury benches and the opposition has been rarely seen in the past. The monsoon session of Parliament was held from 22 July to 13 August; of these, the House functioned for only 19 days. On the last day, i.e., 13 August, the House ran for just one minute. According to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, the productivity of the Lok Sabha in this monsoon session was 19 per cent, while that of the Rajya Sabha was 39 per cent. After the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned sine die on 13 August, the Lok Sabha Speaker organised the traditional tea party, which has always been held as a custom. But look at the level of bitterness between the ruling side and the opposition, the entire opposition (except DMK), including the Congress, boycotted the Speaker’s tea party. As the sole representative of DMK, Kanimozhi was seen at this traditional get-together. From the ruling side, PM Modi, Rajnath Singh and several other senior ministers were present. The Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, C.P. Radhakrishnan, had also organised a similar traditional tea party for the members of the Upper House, in which Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge was also seen along with Sonia Gandhi.
Samrat’s Empire Begins to Tremble
The sting of the Bankipur by-election defeat is crushing the morale of Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary. Normally, the BJP high command does not take by-election wins and losses this seriously, but it is treating the Bankipur result with unusual gravity, and why shouldn’t it? This is no ordinary setback; they have lost the seat of their own national president. So Samrat Choudhary was summoned to Delhi. He was told: “You used to call yourself an ‘action man’ and claimed you would always deliver results, is this your result?” In his defence, Samrat is said to have replied: “We gave the ticket to the wrong choice. No one in the constituency even knew him.” The patience of the BJP Chanakya had already snapped. In a somewhat harsh tone he said: “Your responsibility was to win the seat for the party. Where did this person suddenly come from in the middle?” After that, the discussion turned to the situation after Samrat took charge. The party high command said: “You have neither been able to control corruption nor rein in the rising crimes in the state.” It is said that Chanakya also warned Samrat: “This is the first election in the state in which even the upper-caste voters have abandoned us and gone over to the opposition camp.” So Samrat has been given the clear instruction that he must change his style of working, otherwise party high command will not take even a minute to replace him.
JD(U)’s Existence will Continue
From the Bankipur defeat, the BJP has also internalised another lesson: wiping out JD(U) is not in BJP’s interest. Earlier, Samrat had accepted the throne with the promise that in the coming times he would get the entire JD(U) party merged into the BJP. Now BJP strategists have clearly understood that only a strong JD(U) can strengthen the lotus in the state. Because Nitish Kumar has an honest image of his own, he has generally remained popular even among the backward castes; upper-caste voters have never had any allergy towards him, and women voters have supported him rising above caste and religion. In this contest of image, Samrat lags far behind Nitish. The BJP is also haunted by the fear that if JD(U) is completely merged into the BJP, the backward-caste voters may break away from JD(U) and go over to Tejashwi’s camp. As for the upper-caste voters, managing them is even more important because in the coming Uttar Pradesh elections the number of upper-caste voters there is almost double that of Bihar’s. For example, the Vaishya community is counted among the backward castes in Bihar but forms part of the upper castes in UP. So after a lot of thought, BJP strategists are now dusting off the long-forgotten Nitish Kumar, polishing him up and bringing him back into the limelight. Perhaps that is why, immediately after the Bankipur defeat, the PM called Nitish for feedback.
Support for Prachi from Fadnavis?
Despite all the official efforts, the vacant post of Member of CBIC (Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs) could not be filled this time either. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had also put in every possible effort to get 1991-batch IRS officer Prachi Swaroop appointed as Member. Prachi Swaroop frequently remains in the headlines on social media. The Bollywood affinity of this woman officer posted in Mumbai is no secret to anyone, whether it is her glamorous photographs with Bollywood stars on social media or the issue of alleged misuse of body scanners and X-ray machines at Mumbai airport, her name has kept appearing in the news, willingly or unwillingly. However, no official complaint has been registered against her on this count till date, nor has there been any official confirmation of these allegations. Out of the nine officers selected for the CBIC Member post, only five were shortlisted. Interviews of these five were also held on 28 July, but no one was selected. This happened because the selection committee could not arrive at a consensus on any single name. It has now been decided that this one vacancy will be filled when another Member’s post falls vacant towards the end of this year. In fact, the CBIC board comprises six members serving under the Chairman. Among the five officers interviewed this time, two (Raj Kumar and Valte Vangzamuan) were 1990-batch IRS officers, while the remaining three belonged to the 1991 batch. In this, Prachi Swaroop was facing a challenge from her own batchmate Rimjhim Prasad. Besides them, 1991-batch IRS officer Rajesh Jindal was also in the race. It is also being heard that the selection committee did not want to ignore the two officers of the 1990 batch for the sake of 1991-batch Prachi Swaroop. It is also believed that the appointments of new members may now be delayed till March 2027, by which time the tenures of the other four members of the board will also end. It is worth noting that this post in CBIC has been vacant since December 2025, when three posts had fallen vacant. Sanjay Mangal and Abhai Kumar Srivastava were selected for two of them, but the third Member’s post has remained vacant till now, the post on which Prachi Swaroop had firmly set her sights.
Opposition Surges Ahead in YouTube Views
In its more than a decade-long journey in power, the BJP and its supreme leader Narendra Modi have used digital, social and traditional media with great finesse as the finest weapon of expression, hoisting the flag of their own glory through it while completely flooring their opponents. But for some time now, leaving aside the loyal media of the establishment, the rest of the media has proved to be a double-edged sword for the ruling side. Earlier, the BJP used to create the narrative and the opposition would react to it; now this equation has been reversed. For instance, if one looks at a Google analysis of the 32nd week of YouTube (covering the period from 1 August to 7 August), one gets a fair idea of the real position of the country’s political parties and their top leaders. In this race, the Congress is leading with 35.8 million views (44 per cent share), while its leader Rahul Gandhi has also emerged on top among the country’s politicians, securing 11.4 million views with a 17 per cent view share. The Bharatiya Janata Party and its leaders are nowhere to be seen in this race. Even Prime Minister Modi himself appears to be trailing Rahul with a 9 per cent view share and 6.2 million views.