By Tridib Raman – News Trust of India
For Asaduddin Owaisi, this was a completely unique experience. Sometimes politics entangles you in strange new twists. When it was confirmed that this time the Monsoon Session of Parliament would be only three weeks long, starting on 20 July and ending on 13 August, Owaisi was on a visit to his parliamentary constituency in Hyderabad. Suddenly his mobile rang. He was stunned to see that the caller was none other than Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla himself. Owaisi was left speechless when a voice came from the other side: “Where are you right now? I was wishing to sit with you and have a cup of tea.” Owaisi replied, “Sir, I am on a tour of my parliamentary constituency. You just order, I will reach Delhi tomorrow itself.” The conversation between the two leaders then continued. According to sources, Speaker Birla was actually interested in knowing what the Muslim community was thinking about the ‘Ayodhya temple donation theft’ issue. It is said that Owaisi replied: “Muslims are not creatures from another planet, sir. They think exactly like any common citizen of the country or their Hindu fellow countrymen that whatever is a place of worship should not have had such things happening there.” The Speaker is said to have encouraged Owaisi, saying, “I am also a fan of your speeches in Parliament. After all, you are a barrister, so you speak in a very measured and balanced manner. It is a different matter that your inclination is towards one particular religion, but still the entire country wants to listen to you. So I want that this time too you should speak at length in the House. The whole country will listen to you.” To this Owaisi said, “Sir, we have only two MPs in total, so we will get very little time.” The Speaker replied, “Don’t worry about that, leave it to me. Come to Delhi, we’ll meet, have tea and chat.” There is a deeper reason behind this meeting. Actually, the BJP is quite upset over the Ayodhya temple donation theft case. Even before this matter could cool down, the issue of theft of donations at Kedarnath and Badrinath temples has started gaining traction. Therefore, the BJP-led central government wants to bring a new law for transparency in donations at religious places. Under this, whether it is a place of worship of any religion, its complete audit will be conducted under government supervision so that every single penny can be accounted for. Maharashtra’s energetic Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has already blown the bugle on this. A ₹300 crore land scam has come to light in Nashik, which is a worse case involving a Christian missionary. The land is said to belong to a church and was sold illegally. Now the Fadnavis government is eager to form committees to investigate such cases, and the transactions will also be properly audited.
UP: A Thorn in the Gandhi Family’s Throat
By Tridib Raman – News Trust of India
In Uttar Pradesh, where assembly elections are due in the coming months, voices of disagreement have started emerging within the country’s largest political family. It is an accepted principle within the Congress party that UP is Priyanka Gandhi’s domain and she takes all major political decisions here herself. However, when it came to appointing the Congress in-charge for UP this time, her opinion was sidelined and the command was handed over to the controversial face Rajendra Pal Gautam. Priyanka’s choice was an old Congress leader loyal to the Gandhi family – Pramod Tiwari. Priyanka’s argument was that “UP’s Brahmins are currently quite angry with the BJP. So by projecting Tiwari, a Brahmin face, the sympathy of the Brahmin community and upper-caste voters towards Congress will increase. Pramod Tiwari also has very close and deep personal relations with Akhilesh Yadav, which could prove beneficial in case of an alliance with the SP. Besides, Tiwari is capable of raising election funds for the party and his relative owns a big construction company.” On the other hand, the coterie that always surrounds Rahul fed him the idea that “Congress should bet everything on Dalit voters. They are currently in a state of confusion. Their disillusionment with Mayawati has reached a high level and they are wandering in search of a new shelter.” The same group presented arguments before Rahul that in the 2014 elections Mayawati got 19% Dalit votes, which fell to 15% in the 2022 assembly elections, and in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Dalits (except her caste voters) had virtually abandoned “Behenji”. Her party BSP had to be satisfied with just 9% votes. Rahul’s close aides saw this as an opportunity. So quietly, they pushed forward the name of Rajendra Pal Gautam, a Dalit leader who has drunk water from every ghat (has been everywhere). Rahul’s mistake was that he gave the green signal without asking Priyanka. Now Priyanka has also stopped taking interest in UP matters. Local leaders of UP are unable to contact her. It is said that Priyanka has changed her mobile number, and no messages are coming or going on her WhatsApp either.
Why Congress Keeps Repeating Mistakes
By Tridib Raman – News Trust of India
In politics, people generally learn from their mistakes, but perhaps Congress is the only political party whose tradition is to repeat mistakes. That said, from an organizational perspective, the position of General Secretary in charge of states and union territories in the All India Congress Committee is considered extremely important, but it does not seem that the Congress leadership has set any clear criteria of merit for this appointment, nor any measure of accountability. If there is one sole qualification that appears for being appointed as in-charge, it is that General Secretary’s proximity to the party high command. Leaders who have repeatedly failed in their previous responsibilities are not put on the back burner but are instead made in-charge of some other state. For instance, when the Congress was completely wiped out in the West Bengal elections, Ghulam Ahmad Mir, the General Secretary in charge of Bengal and leader of the Jammu and Kashmir legislature party, was rewarded by being given the new charge of Tamil Nadu. It should be noted that in Tamil Nadu this time, after nearly six decades, the Congress is tasting power as part of the ruling alliance. Mir was also in-charge of Jharkhand along with Bengal, when quite a few questions had arisen regarding alleged financial transactions there, and Soren’s Chief Minister’s office had also come up in those discussions. Despite all this, no action could be taken against Mir. Now it is being said that Rahul Gandhi had no knowledge of Mir getting new responsibilities; when K.C. Venugopal, the Organization General Secretary of the Congress, announced Mir’s name as the Tamil Nadu in-charge, Rahul Gandhi was abroad. It is believed that Mir has kept his connections well-maintained with Venugopal, and its effect can also be seen in Kashmir, where the Congress’s organizational functioning has always been under a cloud of questions. In this same vein, another example can be given of B.K. Hariprasad, who has recently been made the president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee. Earlier, Hariprasad has been in charge of several important states, where questions have also been raised regarding his performance. For example, when he was appointed as the in-charge of Haryana, he could neither rein in the severe factionalism within the party nor secure a win for the Congress in the assembly elections. But it is said that the party’s national president, Mallikarjun Kharge, is quite favorably disposed towards B.K. Another name in this series is that of Mohan Prakash. Well, let it be, there are still many names; we will discuss them some other time.
How did the rebellion break out in Goa Congress?
By Tridib Raman – News Trust of India
At the end of May, Girish Raya Chodankar was appointed as the new president of the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) in place of Amit Patkar. Since then, rebellion has started raising its head in the Goa Congress. Several important state leaders resigned in support of Patkar, and in great haste, the registration of a new political party called ‘Goa Congress Party’ was also announced. The Congress high command immediately swung into action. KC Venugopal took complete charge of the matter and said, “There is no official split in the Congress. This is BJP’s ‘game plan’ to set the Congress house on fire and bake its electoral bread in Goa.” Girish Chodankar claims that the BJP has given ₹100 crore as a fund to fuel the campaign of the disgruntled group within Congress. It is said that in this entire episode, Manisha Usgaonkar, the state Congress general secretary who is leading the dissident group, was severely reprimanded by Venugopal. Along with Manisha, Social Media Wing chief Divya Kumar and State Social Media Coordinator Shyamila Siddiqui have also been issued show-cause notices. However, sources say that the axe in this entire matter is likely to fall on KC Venugopal himself. According to sources, Sonia Gandhi has taken suo motu cognizance of the matter and has summoned Venugopal to seek a full explanation. It is also being said that Sonia Gandhi wants to replace Venugopal with Ashok Gehlot so that, as Organisation General Secretary, Gehlot can run the party’s affairs smoothly. Sources further claim that Venugopal’s role may be limited to one state by making him the Pradesh Congress President of Kerala. Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi is still considered a strong advocate of giving important positions to young faces. This has led to questions: Is Rahul not comfortable working with Gehlot?
Who is the real ‘Banka’ of Bankipur?
By Tridib Raman – News Trust of India
Ever since BJP national president Nitin Nabin fielded his close aide and BJP Youth Wing leader Abhishek Kumar Bunty from the Bankipur seat, the slogan ’Abhishek Banti, bandhenge dushmanon ke gale mein ghanti’ (Abhishek Bunty will hang a bell around the enemies’ necks.) has been echoing in every street of Bankipur. On the other side is Prashant Kishor, who is fighting to reclaim his political identity. Because of this, the seat has unknowingly become a highly ‘hot seat’. Then suddenly, something happened and Abhishek Bunty refused to contest the election at the last moment. Citing family reasons, he wrote a letter to state president Sanjay Saraogi. This created a storm in the saffron party. Since Nabin was also in Patna that day, a new candidate, Neeraj Kumar Sinha, was quickly found. He too has risen through the ranks of the BJP Youth Wing (BJYM). Now the question everyone is asking is: What happened to Bunty, who was ready to ring bells for everyone? From Prashant Kishor’s camp, there is a quiet claim that documents related to Abhishek Bunty’s family members’ involvement in the fodder scam have come into PK’s hands. However, no one is willing to speak openly about it. So the matter remains strictly between Bunty and PK.
BJP Remains Indifferent to ‘Chanda Champat’ Scandal
By Tridib Raman – News Trust of India
Recently, a very powerful BJP leader invited editors of at least five news channels to his residence for tea. One of these editors has such deep access in the BJP that he can even pull the ears of top saffron leaders. During the tea meeting, the powerful leader discussed various political issues in great detail. Eventually, the conversation turned to the ‘Chanda Chori’ or ‘Chanda Champat’ (Ram Mandir Chanda Chori) issue. The BJP-loyal editor said, “Why are channels repeatedly showing this issue and giving it so much importance when the SIT is already investigating it impartially?” He further added, referring to his own channel, “Our channel has maintained dignity while reporting this matter. Other channels should also follow the same standard.” But the editor was left stunned when the all-powerful leader immediately replied: “What does this entire matter have to do with our party? We don’t want to poke our nose too much into it. The investigating agencies are doing their job, the milk will be separated from the water. Those who have stolen should get proper punishment so that a right example is set. As for news reporting, channels should also do their job with due diligence.” Hearing this response from the powerful leader, the pro-BJP editor was left speechless.
Train Coup(e) Drama
By Tridib Raman – News Trust of India
This story is about a senior leader from Bihar, whose saffron-style swagger impresses everyone. He was once a minister in the Bihar government and is now a BJP Member of Parliament. Whenever this leader travelled in the first-class coupe of a train, he was always accompanied by a woman. Everyone who knew him believed she was his wife, and she was always given due respect during the journey. One day, by chance, his real wife was travelling with him on the Patna to Delhi route. The train had barely travelled some distance when the leader had to go to the toilet. Meanwhile, the TTE arrived and knocked on the coupe door. Upon entering, he saw a different woman inside. Without wasting a moment, he asked, “Who are you?” The leader’s wife replied, “I am his Mrs.” The TTE burst into loud laughter and said, “You think I’m a fool? Don’t I recognise Bhābhīji who always travels with him?” When the leader returned from the toilet and entered the coupe, all hell broke loose. The situation became so chaotic that he had to run back and lock himself inside the toilet again.
