Modi's big picture, and other small tussles

Welcome readers...

The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup has entered its second half and so have the poll preparations for the upcoming Assembly elections in five states. Just like the ten teams playing for the mega event in India, the plethora of political parties also are leaving no stone unturned to ensure that they come out on top. Things are heating up in the World Cup and in our politics as well…

Some heavyweights were sent out to the political battlefield as parties declared more candidate lists for the upcoming polls, while verbal volleys continued with leaders finding enough to play politics in the World Cup season.

Amid all this, Mahua Moitra remained in headlines (though for the wrong reasons) as the alleged ‘cash-for-query’ scandal continued to trouble her politically and personally.

Meanwhile, a non-political statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi is being perceived to have the biggest political impact in the coming months...

And in Pakistan, a big, though expected, political turn took place.

PM Modi.

Modi’s big picture

PM Modi’s Dussehra speech was not about politics and yet it was.

As Modi talked about the inauguration of Ram Temple in Ayodhya next year, it just seemed he was giving a peek into how his party’s politics might play out in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls. The general elections next year are slated to take place just after the inauguration of the Ayodhya temple.

While firing the symbolic arrow on Dussehra towards Ravana, Modi’s eyes were on something else, something much bigger.

TMC MP Mahua Moitra.

Mahua in a muddle

The alleged 'cash-for-query' scandal continued to be among this week’s major stories. Moitra was summoned by Parliament’s ethics committee but the TMC MP sought another date with the panel, citing prior engagements.

TMC, after a long silence, took note of the situation and said that they wanted the right forum of the Parliament to investigate the charges.

Businessman Darshan Hiranandani, Mahua’s estranged partner lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai and of course multiple BJP MPs have targeted the TMC MP, and the weight of evidence against her, at least in the public, seems to be rising even as she has presented consistent denials.

Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray.

Dussehra duel

Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray lit up politics on Dussehra as they both called each other "traitors". While Thackeray took aim at the Prime Minister, Shinde fired his verbal arrows towards Thackeray and the I.N.D.I.A bloc.

Jawans, Babus turned BJP cadre?

Centre’s order appointing officers of the ranks of joint secretary, director and deputy secretary as 'rath prabhari' for its political rallies has not gone down well with the Congress.

The grand old party attacked the government calling it "another Megalomaniac Order" of the prime minister.

However, the yatra to deploy these bureaucrats as ‘rath prabharis’ has been stopped from going into poll-bound states by EC.

Earlier, the Centre had also asked soldiers on annual leave to promote government schemes.

This has been seen as politicising apolitical entities such as army and bureaucracy and Congress has consistently asked questions and urged the government to let the two remain detached.

More heavyweights enter battlefield

Vasundhara Raje, Sachin Pilot and CM Ashok Gehlot have all got their tickets to enter the Rajasthan polls as Congress announced its first and BJP its second candidate list for the upcoming elections in the desert state.

Former India cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin will now be looking to lead an Assembly constituency as he was fielded by Congress for the November 30 Telangana Assembly elections.

BJP also released 52-candidate list for Telangana.

Congress has so far unveiled three candidate lists for Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, while BJP has put out five lists for Madhya Pradesh.

In Mizoram, 174 candidates in total are set to contest the November 7 polls. Nadda, meanwhile, has said that the BJP will issue probe orders against the ruling MNF regime, while CM Zoramthanga, whose MNF is an NDA ally, has clearly said that he would not share stage with the PM when he visits the state.

Ashok Gehlot.

Wild card entry in Rajasthan polls

Before the mega rallies of PM and BJP’s other big leaders take place in Rajasthan, the Opposition has found a familiar foe on its doors in ED.

FDI - fear, deception, intimidation - is how Congress saw the ED raids against its leaders in the poll-bound Rajasthan. The latest ED summon against CM Gehlot’s son has again put the spotlight on Centre’s alleged usage of agencies against Opposition leaders for "intimidation" as some say.

However, Congress and CM Gehlot remain upbeat that such raids are an indication that the party will retain Rajasthan.

C M Ibrahim

Karnataka theatre

After being removed from the post of the state president of JD(S), C M Ibrahim remained adamant that he still held his position as the chief of the party.

"I can't be removed, they (Gowda and Kumaraswamy) know it. They can't dissolve the party state unit, they know it. What they have done is wrong, but I still hope that he will rectify things, and go according to our ideology," he said.

Meanwhile, newly appointed JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy trained his guns on CM Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar. He called the CM ‘Nero’, the famous or infamous Roman emperor, and slammed the state government’s plan to bring Ramanagara into Bengaluru.

In other parts of the country...

In Maharashtra, the Maratha reservation demand continues to stir the political pot as the face of agitation, Manoj Jarange-Patil, has again started a fast unto death. He has also demanded an urgent Assembly session to act on the same demand. Shinde government’s assurances have not worked as opposition in the state continues to ask the CM about his work on this matter.

In Tamil Nadu, a petrol bomb launched towards Raj Bhavan lit up the state politics. Opposition parties like the AIADMK and BJP grabbed the opportunity to accuse the DMK government of converting Tamil Nadu into a “lawless” state and demanded a detailed inquiry into the incident.

In Madhya Pradesh, Congress and Samajwadi Party, both I.N.D.I.A partners were not able to decide on seat sharing in the state and Praful Patel, now an NDA member, did not leave this chance to doubt the unity in the alliance.

In Uttar Pradesh’s capital Lucknow, a huge banner came up calling SP supremo Akhilesh Yadav "the future PM".

BJP described it as "MungeriLal ke haseen sapne (a pipedream of Yadav's associates)" and an attempt to put pressure on other members of the I.N.D.I.A grouping.

Yadav also said that the Congress should not "betray" the Samajwadi Party and make it clear if they want an alliance or not

In Kerala, Shashi Tharoor’s remark that Hamas is a "terror outfit" did not go well with section of the CPM and some Muslim outfits as they accused him of being pro-Israel. However, he clarified that he was with the people of Palestine.

Death bells ring in Doha

As eight former Indian Navy personnel were handed down death sentences by a court in Qatar, politics in India heated up.

Congress told the government to leverage its diplomatic ties, while BJP said it will explore the legal routes. The issue is set to snowball into a big political controversy even as the details of the case remain hazy.

In Pakistan, another 'selection' coming?

The former and possibly the next Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returned to Pakistan after a self-imposed exile of four years and was given a grand welcome by lakhs of his supporters who attended his return rally.

A supporter of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif touches his picture .

Now, charges against him are being dropped and he is getting bails in multiple cases. Elections are to be held soon and his primary opponent Imran Khan can not contest. Any idea, which way it is heading? Will it be an election or as some say "selection"?

We will leave you with this question, and pull the curtains down.

Exit Stage Left,

DH Newsletters Team