Madhya Pradesh Political Punch: Important Meeting, Bootlicking Backfires, Minister Stirs The Pot & More

In a tight spot

A BJP leader, who tries to keep away from any dispute, has fallen into a controversy. The leader, also a senior minister, holding an important position in the cabinet, remains in a tight spot these days because of his officer on special duty (OSD). The official faces allegations of corruption. As a result, he had to quit. The official has a skeleton of the minister in his closet. If he blows the lid off the minister’s secrets, the latter will be in trouble. If the officer shoots off his mouth, many secrets of the politician will be out. Some time ago, photographs of a person involved in the narcotics trade appeared with the politician. That ignited a controversy. The name of the politician’s son came up in a money-related case after an I-T raid. The departments the minister heads also face one controversy or another. Some time ago, his supporters dreamt that the politician would get a more important position one day. They, however, look disturbed after the controversies the politician has recently courted.

Important meeting

Amid political upheaval in the state, a central minister met the head of the country. The meeting indicates that both may have talked about the state’s political condition. But the time for the meeting had been fixed before the political happenings. Thus, it indicates that the discussions may not have been confined to state politics. The BJP has formed a team in Delhi to deal with the current political situation in the country. The central minister remains part of the team. The minister is considered popular among girls whom he considers as his own daughters and highly respects them. So, the party has put him in the front to handle youth-related issues. On the one hand, the central leadership has started giving importance to the leader from the state. On the other hand, his importance in the state has reduced. A recent event indicates that the state government barely listens to him.

Bootlicking backfires

A phrase used by a top BJP leader in the state’s financial capital has stirred up discussions in that city. Every leader of the party in the state’s financial capital remains fed up with the talkativeness of the district president of that city. His chattiness provoked a sharp retort from a top leader during his trip to the city. The district president heaped praises on the head of the organisation, thinking his commends would make the party head happy, but it happened otherwise. The party president tore into the praises heaped on him. He said anyone can spread a spoonful of butter onto two pieces of bread, but spreading it onto ten piecesa remains an art which the district president had mustered (Ek chammach Ghee se do roti to saab hi chupad lete hain lekin jiladhyaksh to dus roti chupadne ki kala jante hai). After the phrase used by the party head, everybody has started making fun of the district president. Several senior leaders have talked him out of garrulity. He became the district president because of the efforts of a prominent leader; however, his way of working has gained many enemies in the district.

Secrecy opens

A central minister visited the state two weeks ago. During the tour, he participated in an event and cancelled all other programmes. He remained in a hotel room afterwards. A lot of speculations surround his visit. Some people related the cancellation of his events to health, and a few others attributed it to his anger. Still a few others ascribed it to some important work of the central government. Now, after so many days, the secret of what had kept the central minister occupied came to light. He made a strategy for the two-day undeclared lockdown in Delhi in connection with the CJP agitation, sitting in Bhopal. After holding discussions with the head of the country, he instructed the senior officers through video conferencing about how to deal with the CJP agitation. The issue was such that he could not discuss it with anyone.

Passing the buck again

It is now clear that a chasm has developed between a former chief minister of the state and his decades-old friend. The former chief minister talks about his relationship with the leader of the party, but he has again blamed the latter for the fall of the Congress government in the state in 2020. Now, the former chief minister says he spared no effort to save the government. The then chief minister remained responsible for the government’s ouster. An event created the rift between the duo. Two years ago, there were discussions about one of them defecting to the BJP. Although the leader did not switch over to the ruling party, his activities embittered their relationship. The bitterness sometimes appears in their conduct, too.

Minister stirs the pot

A minister in the state cabinet cannot resist an opportunity to stir the pot. By doing so, he often embarrasses the government. He recently blew the lid off a high-level discussion about the inclusion of the names of those Ladi Behnas – whom the government had previously left – in the list of beneficiaries. His statement shocked the government because it did not make any decision over the issue. At a function, the head of state recently said that the Ladli Behna scheme had already become a costly affair for the government. Once, the minister kicked up a fuss over a seat in a restaurant in Gwalior. Since the minister did not get a chair in the restaurant, he called up the officials of the food and civil supplies department, asking them to check its food quality. Similarly, after a road rage incident, the minister’s son locked horns with the police. When they took him to the police station, the minister went there and made a scene. The minister has courted controversies many times, causing embarrassment to the government.