At one time, being a party spokesperson in the Congress was thought to be a route to a seat in Parliament, but nowadays Congress party spokespersons are joining other parties with an ambition to grow politically. The Congress longest full-time spokesperson Tom Vadakkan got so tired of waiting for a reward that he joined BJP last year. After that Priyanka Chaturvedi joined the Shiv Sena last year and got a Rajya Sabha seat. The biggest jolt came when the closest aide of Rahul Gandhi, Jyotiraditya Scindia, deserted the Congress party and joined BJP. There have been many factors for leaders to switch loyalties – infighting and lack of opportunities and disconnect with the party high command are the foremost reasons. The grapevine is that a senior legal luminary of the Congress party seems to have been in talks with the top brass of the BJP. Abhishek Manu Singhvi’s name was first on the minds of many and social media was flooded with posts on the speculation. This compelled Singhvi to put forth a hidden message through his tweets to indicate that his name is being speculated out of mischief and that there is no truth in the rumour. However, it remains to be seen if the official denial is a hint of the confirmation, or not.
Kamal Nath blames Digvijay for the Scindia-led MLA Exodus
Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh had ganged up to ensure that Jyotiraditya Scindia had no place in Congress politics in Madhya Pradesh. But after Scindia quit the party, the Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh jugalbandi has fallen out. In an off-the-record briefing with a journalist, Kamal Nath has finally revealed what led to the collapse of his government in Madhya Pradesh, and Digvijaya Singh was held responsible for the debacle. Kamal Nath said that Digvijaya had given false assurance to him that all the MLAs were united and his government was safe. Nath said Singh had also assured that those Congress MLAs who had quit the party and flown to Karnataka would rejoin the fold during the vote of confidence. In fact, Kamal Nath still has hopes of returning as chief minister if the Congress wins 18 out of the 24 seats by-elections in the state.
Chouhan-Scindia bonhomie bewilders BJP leaders in MP
Jyotiraditya Scindia has supported Shivraj Singh Chouhan for the chief ministership of Madhya Pradesh against all the senior BJP leaders. Now after the cabinet expansion in Madhya Pradesh, many senior BJP leaders have started openly criticizing the working style of Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The cornered CM immediately tweeted that Jyotiraditya Scindia is a leader and hero of Madhya Pradesh, who has shown his love and priority for the state after throwing out the corrupt Congress government of Kamal Nath, and helped BJP to form the government. Naturally, the newfound public bonhomie between Chouhan and Scindia has resulted in puzzlement among the BJP leaders opposed to Shivraj Singh Chouhan. According to political observers, CM Chouhan has written the tweet knowingly to show his opponents that he can run the government without them, while ensuring Scindia’s support remains intact.
Modi has abdicated responsibility: Yashwant Sinha
Senior leader and former Finance and External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha convened an emergency meeting of Rashtra Manch to discuss the “abdication of leadership by the Modi government in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic”. The leaders questioned the “cruel model of governance” that has led to death of migrant labourers in Aurangabad and the countless stories of lakhs of poor citizens walking with women and children without cash, food, water, and sense of security. Yashwant Sinha, Manish Tewari, Majeed Memon, Pavan Varma, Prof. Arun Kumar, Ravinder Manchanda, and Ghanshyam Tiwari together agreed to issue an open call from the Rashtra Manch to the Narendra Modi Government to urgently define the rights of migrants and labourers under the lockdown situation. Rashtra Manch is ready to work together with leaders across the country to come up with the minimum guarantee that the Government of India must give to migrants and labourers as their right in the nationwide lockdown.
(By arrangement with IPA)
