It is 10 days since the Bihar Assembly election results were declared, but the BJP continues to be in ferment. The defeat suffered by the party remains the subject among the BJP rank and file. There is still no word on a formal introspection to pinpoint the reasons for the party’s rout, but BJP members have been lining up before the RSS to detail the reasons for their loss. There is unanimity among them that the party paid a heavy price for the arrogance displayed by its senior leaders and ministers who completely ignored local workers. Angry members apparently told the RSS bosses that after the party’s victory in the Lok Sabha elections, its ministers had deluded themselves into believing that they were in the same league as Prime Minister Modi. Taking a swipe at their seniors, they said, these ministers had even amended the popular election slogan “Har Har Modi, ghar ghar Modi” to “Har ghar Modi”. Bickering aside, some fingers are rising to point in the direction that the blame really lies.
Having come out in open support of Nitish Kumar months before the Bihar Assembly elections were called, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee was the first to confirm that she would attend his swearing-in in Patna last week. Given the line-up at the function, it was predictably dubbed as the beginning of a national anti-BJP front. However, the inner contradictions in the formation of such a front came to the fore in the run-up to the programme. After giving her consent, Ms Banerjee had second thoughts when she learnt that Mr Modi had also been invited. With the Bengal Assembly polls due next year, the TC leader was wary of being seen with Mr Modi. Ms Banerjee was relieved when she was told that Mr Modi had declined Mr Kumar’s invitation. But she was soon beset with doubts when she realised that CPM leader Sitaram Yechury and Tripura CM Manik Sarkar would attend. Trinamul insi-ders maintain that Ms Banerjee kept everybody guessing about her trip as she was constantly changing her mind. Eventually, the CM cancelled an important programme in Purulia in order to attend Mr Kumar’s swearing-in.
The new Congress legislators from Bihar discovered that despite his gentle demeanour, veteran party leader Motilal Vora is no pushover. The Bihar MLAs had assembled in New Delhi a day before Mr Kumar’s swearing-in ceremony last week for a meeting with Rahul Gandhi. Since they were keen to get back to Patna the next day, in time to attend the grand oath-taking, they requested Mr Vora that the party pay for their air tickets as they could not afford the fares. But they had not bargained for the party senior’s tough stand. An unmoved Mr Vora told them that there was no reason why the party should pay their airfare now that they had won the election and some of them could even become ministers. The Bihar legislators were taken aback, unaware that it is extremely difficult to persuade Mr Vora to part with money. With the party facing a crunch, the Congress treasurer has become careful.
The otherwise-voluble human resources minister Smriti Irani is known to be inaccessible to journalists. But for somebody who shuns the press, the minister keeps a close tab on what the media is writing about her and her ministry. In fact, her staff has been given the onerous task of scanning every newspaper and TV channel for reports on her, however innocuous they might be. Not only does the minister go through the reports diligently, but she also shoots off denials regularly if she does not agree with the reports. For instance, if a two-para news item from Amethi says that Ms Irani failed to turn up for a particular programme, the minister’s office is quick to send a rejoinder that the said function was not included in her schedule. With bureaucrats entrusted with handling her publicity reduced to sending off denials, it is little wonder that Ms Irani has had a high turnover of officers.
The writer is a Delhi-based journalist
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