In Delhi for the election of Narendra Modi as the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentary party last week, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje utilised her time by going on a shopping spree. Having toiled laboriously in the recent Lok Sabha elections, a predictably relaxed Ms Raje was spotted at an exclusive lifestyle store in South Delhi where she snapped up over a dozen saris, designed by the well-known designers Abraham and Thakore. Each sari is priced at anything between Rs 15,000 and Rs 20,000. But the Rajasthan Chief Minister can afford to indulge herself as she had delivered on her promise to score a 100 per cent result in her home state.
Now that the BJP has won all the 25 Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan, Ms Raje can legitimately reclaim her position in the party hierarchy, which she had lost after her poor performance in the 2008 Assembly election and the following Lok Sabha polls. Ms Raje decided to lie low for a while and emerged from hibernation a year before last year’s Assembly polls. Those who know the Rajasthan Chief Minister maintain that she is not going to sit back and will, at some point, want to move to the national political stage. Often described in the BJP as a female NaMo, Ms Raje has the added advantage of having Lalit Modi, an excellent event manager, as her friend and guide to help her in this effort.
An interesting cat-and-mouse game has been going in the BJP as incoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi got busy with the formation of his Cabinet which is to be unveiled on May 26. According to the buzz in the BJP circles, veteran leader L.K. Advani and his junior and one-time protégé Arun Jaitley have been busy putting each other down. Mr Jaitley has apparently told Mr Modi that the Lok Sabha Speaker’s post is far too sensitive to be given to Mr Advani in view of the lack of trust between the two leaders. After all it was Mr Advani who had opposed Mr Modi’s anointment as the party’s prime ministerial candidate, a fact that has not been forgotten by Mr Modi and his supporters.
On his part, Mr Advani has apparently argued that Mr Jaitley should not be handed over the responsibility of the high-profile finance ministry especially since he had lost the Lok Sabha election from Amritsar. It would send out a negative message to the party rank and file if Mr Jaitley were to be rewarded with a key portfolio after his defeat, it is being pointed out. However, the victor of this backroom battle will only be known on Monday. While this tussle continues, Mr Modi is keeping everybody guessing about the contours of his ministerial team.
As in the case of the outgoing United Progressive Alliance government, the Central Bureau of Investigation may well prove to be the best ally of the new BJP-led National Democratic Alliance dispensation. While YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy’s meeting with PM-elect Narendra Modi and his subsequent decision to extend issue-based support to the NDA government, has been well-publicised, a recent meeting between senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s confidant Mukul Roy has been kept under wraps.
It is known that Mr Reddy is vulnerable as he has been chargesheeted in 10 cases and could be targeted by the Centre through the Enforcement Directorate or the CBI. Ms Banerjee is also jittery as her government is facing a CBI enquiry in the Saradha chit fund scam. Although she has opened channels of communication with the BJP, Ms Banerjee is constrained from declaring support to the Modi-led government as she fears such a move would result in an erosion of her minority support base.
Having crossed the halfway mark in the Lok Sabha on its own, the BJP does not need the support of any more parties. Nevertheless, Mr Modi is keen on getting the backing of as many parties as he can for two reasons: one, to isolate the Congress and two, to ensure the smooth passage of bills in the Rajya Sabha where the NDA does not enjoy a majority.
The lotus bloomed, both literally and figuratively, in the Central Hall of Parliament last week when victorious MPs of the BJP gathered to elect Mr Modi as head of the parliamentary party. For the first time, over a dozen urns with lotus flowers, were placed strategically in front of the dais where Mr Modi, BJP president Rajnath Singh and veteran party leader L.K. Advani were seated. While the Lok Sabha secretariat is known to use exotic orchids and lilies for the flower arrangements on such special occasions, the addition of lotus flowers for the first time, did not escape attention. While it is understandable for BJP leaders to pay obeisance to the lotus (the party’s election symbol), its allies, who had lined up dutifully to felicitate and support Mr Modi, had no choice but to do the same.
The writer is a Delhi-based journalist
