Hard times
It is a truth generally accepted, that the politicians vie for tickets in the run-up to any election, but the Congress leaders are just doing the opposite. They are not ready to risk their money. In an effort to keep away from contesting the election, a former minister of the party has declared himself ill. The name of this leader was doing the rounds for an important seat, but he was averse to contesting the election. He told his colleagues that because he was very ill and the doctors advised him bed rest for a few days, he would not be able to campaign. He said keeping that in mind, it would be better for the party as well as for him not to give him a ticket. As the politician knows the outcome of the contest of this particular seat, he does not want to lay a wager. The Congress has encountered the same problem in most of the seats in the state as it is facing in this particular constituency. Mere memory of the loss in the assembly election has made the Congress leaders wince at the Lok Sabha election.
In a tight spot
A politician who has left the BJP and fought the assembly election against the party candidate is in hot water these days. The politician wants to join back his parent party, and, for this, he has spoken to all the leaders of the ruling party in the state. Despite the efforts of a senior leader, he is unable to go back to his previous organisation. As he is not in the ruling party, the administration is harassing his supporters who are leaving him one by one. Those close to this politician clearly said if he failed to return to the party, he would soon be alone. This politician also contacted the party leadership in Delhi. He told them that as he did not join the Congress, he should be allowed to come back to his parent organisation. There are reports that a BJP legislator has blocked his way that may open only after the Lok Sabha election.
Maya Mili Na Ram
A former minister of the BJP who has joined the Congress is caught in a double bind. The BJP was ready to take him back, and the leader was also set to reach the party office to re-embrace his organisation, but his plans went awry because of the central leadership. As the reports of his joining back the ruling party became public, the Congress, too, stopped giving him any importance. The Congress handed him the responsibility of a Lok Sabha constituency where he was holding meetings with the party workers. When the Congress came to know of the party-hopper’s plans to go back to the BJP, they began to maintain a distance from him, and he was divested of all the charges. Similarly, the BJP, too, refused to take him back. Neither the BJP workers nor the Congress men meet him these days. His condition is: “Na khuda hi mila na visaal-e-sanam na idhar ke hue na udhar ke hue (I could neither attain God nor meet my beloved; I am left in the lurch).”
Neta’s hissy fit
A former minister of the state has been in silence since the formation of the BJP government. But he was recently teed off after the transfer of an officer. Except for that incident, he is only just speaking about any issue. The former minister is also giving a wide berth to asking the government for any work. Whenever his supporters visit the former minister and request him to get their work done, he summarily disposes of their demand. But when the former minister saw the transfer list, containing the name of one of his relatives, he went through the roof. The relative was sent to the loop line, but his anger forced the government to remove the officer’s name from the list. Now that the transfer of his relative has been cancelled, the former minister is reportedly happy. He is taking every step with caution, avoiding a fight with the government and keeping away from the media. He does not want to do any such thing as may kick up dust in the state and reach the door of the central leadership.
Swallowing saffron thought
The ideology of the BJP and that of the Congress are poles apart. Ergo, the Congress men, defecting to the BJP, are sifting through its literature available online to adjust themselves to its way of working. The Congressmen cannot easily adopt the discipline that Sangh inculcates among its members. So, the former Congressmen – now the BJP workers – are busy appreciating the saffron party’s philosophy. They are also leafing through the books available in the BJP office and the ones provided to them by the party. Nevertheless, to have a grasp of the ideology of a party like the BJP and to adjust to it is an arduous job for those who take to it after swallowing the Congress’s philosophy throughout their life. What Simon Cameron said in 1957 is still relevant: “An honest politician is one who when he’s bought stays bought.” Thus, learning BJP’s ideology for such politicians may not be a Sisyphean task.
Art of the possible
Politics does not teach the word – finality. So, whenever a politician gets into a hole, he doesn’t stop digging, knowing well that he will soon make another to get out. This is what a politician in the state capital is doing. He fought the assembly election from one of the constituencies in Bhopal, and got hammered by his opponent. But that neither disappointed the politician nor deterred him from working for the next election to hand a defeat to his rival. He recently bought five tankers for Rs 5.50 lakh to supply water to the residents in the summer that is about to rear up and bare its fangs. The politician’s supporters, however, do not forget to tell the residents that they are getting water because of the leader’s benevolence. Former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone once wrote: “Politics is a marathon, not a sprint.” The politician in Bhopal knows this adage well, but the answer to whether his generosity will fetch him a win, lies in the womb of time.
