Is
all well?
It is generally believed that two adult male tigers usually don’t live in the same jungle as per the law of the jungle. One has to kill or drive away the other to prove his authority in the jungle. Very recently, a local vernacular TV channel very meticulously tried to prove this point. It was about two tigers in the state BJP, namely Sarbananda Sonowal and Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma, who are shadow boxing in state politics, which became very obvious during the BJP’s foundation day programme when the likes of Jayanta Malla Baruah, Pijush Hazarika, and Ajanta Neog were conspicuous by their absence along with the Chief Minister. We all know that all those three names mentioned above were once Congressmen. Words of dissent have already been aired by Ashok Sarma, an ex-MLA from Nalbari, and Rajen Gohain, an ex-MP from Nagaon, who are in fact old guards of the BJP. Is all well in the BJP? We are watching.
Dr. Ashim Chowdhury,
Guwahati.
Bring legislation to prevent turncoats
Some politicians are having a field day in Karnataka after the announcement of elections, whereas it should have been the reverse: with days to go for the polling, people should have been witnessing tense faces worried about their political future. Those denied tickets to the convention from their parties are becoming turncoats to further their political careers. Even senior and seasoned politicians have changed parties at the tail end of the current assembly. Those who have spent more than two decades with a party have ditched their parent organisation to join hands with a party they were opposing tooth and nail until yesterday for the sake of a ticket in the elections. One wonders what ideology they will propagate to the electorate, or does ideology and stand really matter in today’s politics? Most last-minute turncoats in Karnataka belong to the ruling BJP, which, by all accounts, is looking down the barrel.
Therefore, the Congress, which is tipped to return, has become the favourite hunting ground for the party hoppers. A sulking six-time BJP legislator and former chief minister, Jagadish Shettar, quit his seat and the party after being denied another chance to contest only to join the Congress. Laxman Savadi, the former deputy chief minister from the BJP, who lost the 2018 elections, joined the Congress and was given a ticket immediately after he deserted the BJP after being miffed with the party for denying him what he considered his "rightful ticket". Ditto for some others who were snubbed by the BJP. Perhaps it is time something is done by all stakeholders by sitting across the table to prevent party hopping after the election dates are announced to inject hope and prevent repulsion among the voters in the entire election process. Otherwise, the option of "nota" and an abysmal turnout at the polling booths may as well become the order of the day.
Dr. Ganapathi Bhat
(gbhat13@gmail.com)
Opposition’s unity move
With Nitish Kumar's recent trip to Delhi, there is renewed optimism that the opposition’s efforts to unite will result in real advancement. Sonia Gandhi, the leader of the Congress, had already reaffirmed the Congress’ intention to walk alongside like-minded parties in an essay that appeared in an English daily on Tuesday. Don’t forget that Nitish Kumar had been working to bring the opposition together for a while, but his efforts had run into certain roadblocks and were unable to be successful. Nitish Kumar always said that the opposition's unity would be useless without the participation of the Congress.
Nitish Kumar’s lack of interest was mostly caused by the fact that even the leaders of the Congress were not giving his efforts the attention they anticipated. Nevertheless, soon after Sharad Pawar, the head of the NCP, gave an interview to a TV channel, their unity was called into doubt. At the time, most of the opposition parties were united over the stripping of Rahul Gandhi's MP status. Pawar stated in the interview that he disagreed with the opposition’s demand for a JPC inquiry into the Adani issue, arguing that it was pointless given that the Supreme Court has already established an inquiry committee made up of subject-matter experts.
The other opposition parties, though, weren't concerned and exhibited a reasonable approach. The backroom negotiations between the opposition parties led to the reemergence of their shared understanding. In addition to Trinamool and AAP appearing to be more aligned with the Congress, Nitish Kumar, who was based in Patna, also started acting again. He initially met RJD leader Lalu Prasad on Tuesday after arriving in Delhi, then on Wednesday he chatted with Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. Even while the NCP disagrees with the call for a JPC inquiry, Sharad Pawar made an equally significant comment that the NCP will not oppose it given the stance of other parties.
All these point to the possibility that, barring any unexpected obstacles, the opposition parties will come to a wide understanding over their need for unity and the negotiations will move forward with more complex issues. Not to be overlooked, however, are the upcoming elections for the Karnataka state assembly, which will be followed by those for Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh. Two of these three states are currently under the control of Congress. In addition to Karnataka, the party may guarantee a significant role in the cooperation of the opposition parties if it performs well in these states.
Abhijit Roy
(abhijitroytatanagar@gmail.com)