Damage control
A former chief minister of the Congress Party has swung into action to do damage control. The reports about his defection to the BJP have struck a severe blow to the party – particularly in Madhya Pradesh. The politicians, close to this former chief minister, realised that they had made a mistake by not refuting the reports that their leader was going to the BJP camp. Now that the dust over the reports has settled down, the former chief minister is trying to re-establish himself in the party. There are reports that he is talking to the Congress leaders over phone. The situation has come to such a pass that he has begun to interact with those leaders who he never even looked at. He is taking a crack at establishing that the reports about his switchover to the opposition camp were just a roorback. In this episode, the politician got angry with his long-time associate and another former chief minister. There are reports that the series of events, which followed the reports about the former chief minister joining the BJP, have even entailed a chasm in the family of the politician. It has forced him to do damage control in the party as well as in the family.
In a dilemma
Two former ministers associated with the Congress Party are in a dilemma. Both are in touch with a leader of the BJP, for they want to join the rival camp. They want tickets for the Lok Sabha election from the ruling party. But the leader, who they are in contact with, has clearly said none in the BJP can give any assurance to them for a ticket. This is the reason why both are in a dilemma. It will be of no use for them to defect to the BJP if they do not get tickets. At the same time, they feel that they have no future in the Congress Party. One of the leaders has a big business. He thinks if he does not hop to the BJP, he may have problems in the next five years. A minister of the ruling dispensation has a whiff about the Congress leader’s interaction with a leader of his party. Ergo he is trying to stop the entry of the Congress man in the ruling camp.
Strange conduct
There are rumours about the edginess of a politician of the Congress and that of his counterpart in the BJP who are working in the same area. Both have hogged the limelight for their wayward actions and statements. One of them has drawn the media attention by criticising his own party, thinking that the BJP will give him a chance. Now that the BJP has given him a wide berth to his efforts to switch over to their camp, he is behaving in a different way to stay relevant. The conduct of the other politician, who belongs to the BJP, is no different. He wants to draw the public attention by fair means or foul, which the senior members in the party organisation are worried about. A few functionaries of the party in the district – where the BJP politician works – have complained to the senior office-bearers of the organisation about his behaviour, but he is not ready to change it. Because of the waywardness of these two politicians, both the political organisations are facing problems. Yet nobody knows how to control them.
Magic of music
You feel hurt when something strikes you, but if music hits you, you feel relaxed. Music quells your pains. Everyone is aware of this adage, but only a few have the capability to strike their friends as well as their enemies with this tranquiliser called music. A minister from the Gwalior-Chambal region is endowed with this rare quality. He recently travelled to his constituency and stayed in a village at night. When the evening fell, he began to sing Bhajans. His resonant voice and way of singing took the residents of the area by surprise. When they heard him sing, they also reached the spot where the politician was rendering Bhajans and intoned with him. He left his audience speechless. In Harry Potter JK Rowling writes, “Ah, music,” he said, wiping his eyes, “A magic beyond all we do here!” Ergo the minister struck the right chord with his voters.
Art of tying Safa
‘Safa’ or headgear or ‘Pugree’ or turban, as one may call it, has been a symbol of power and honour in India since time immemorial. The gifting of a Safa makes both the giver and the given feel honoured, but tying it around the head is an art, which only a few are acquainted with. It was evident at a function in the BJP office where a leader was feted after his victory in the recent Rajya Sabha election. Most party workers gave him bouquets, but one of them wanted to honour the newly elected member of the Upper House with a Safa. A BJP functionary gestured to the party worker, sitting with others holding the Safa, to come and put it around the MP’s head. The MP, however, smiled at the way the party man was putting it on his head, and asked him to hand over the Safa to him. The MP then sported the long turban in the wink of an eye, which delighted everyone so much that they began to clap. He then said he had fastened Safa around the heads of so many leaders of the party that he had become an expert in this art. The BJP workers must have realised that one needs some proficiency to deal with any art – even if it may be wearing of a turban.
Dear old room!
A Young Turk of an old political party is obsessed with a room at the ground floor of its office. He has been allotted a well-furnished chamber, but he prefers the old room to any other place. The story about his love for the room is slightly old – though not as old as his political outfit is. When he was the head of a small wing of the party, he was allotted the room. He spent money to make the room new detaching the place from what had surrounded it. The wheels of fortune then turned and he had to leave the room to another person. Now, he has become the wheelman of the party in the state and got a well-furnished chamber, but instead of using it, the Young Turk works from the old room. The incident reminds everyone of Alfred Tennyson’s saying: “Old order changeth yielding place to new.” Old order in the party has changed, but has its leader yielded place to new?
