One last shot at Delimitation?
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has flagged an important issue when he pointed out that the Monsoon Session of Parliament is yet to be prorogued despite it being 64 days since the last sitting. That does raise the spectre of the Delimitation Bill once again, for sources claim that Home Minister Amit Shah has still not given up on it. The key to getting this bill passed is the DMK. Has the BJP been able to allay the southern party’s misgivings and turn it away from the I.N.D.I.A bloc?
Certainly Rahul Gandhi’s alliance with the TVK is still rattling, although M.K. Stalin has been seen lending support to the SIR stir against Gyanesh Kumar. As far as the Sharad Pawar NCP is concerned, the very visible presence of Supriya Sule marching beside the Gandhi siblings during the protests should have laid to rest the rumours of her party aligning with the NDA. As they say in politics, you win some and you lose the others.
Kamraj in the BJP?
The resignation of L. Murugan (Minister of State) from the Union Council of Ministers has once again sparked off rumours of a possible cabinet reshuffle. Since Murugan has also stepped down from his Rajya Sabha seat, there is a possibility that this may be offered either to a new incumbent or else to one of the existing ministers whose term is ending soon. The capable Hardeep Singh Puri comes to mind.
Apart from his stewardship of the critical Petroleum Ministry during the Iraq-Israel-US war, he is also the only Sikh representative in the Narendra Modi government. In fact the buzz is that Murugan may not be the only one to “offer” his resignation for party work. Other Rajya Sabha MPs, especially those from Uttar Pradesh, could be asked to step down and contest the coming state elections. The vacant berths will then be useful to accommodate new inductees into the Cabinet. It’s a Kamraj plan of sorts.
The Right to Oppose
No matter which side you are on the Gyanesh Kumar issue, one thing that has become remarkably clear is that the Opposition has finally found its voice. One could say that the protests against NEET paper leaks were led by the CJP, with the Opposition dovetailing into their agitation. But post some media revelations, the Congress has taken up the SIR issue with renewed gusto, reminding the public that this is something that Rahul Gandhi had been saying all along. However, it was only after the media story that Rahul’s comments got picked up, as he took to the streets. Within the party there have been murmurs about the prominent place being given to the feisty but very left-leaning Neha Bora by the Gandhi siblings; but that apart, one cannot undermine the spectacle of Congress leaders walking the streets of Delhi and courting arrest late into the night.
Whether it is Pawan Khera, Supriya Shrinate, Deepinder Hooda, D.K. Shivkumar, Imran Pratapgarhi, Gurdeep Singh Sappal, K.C. Venugopal, Gaurav Gogoi, Renuka Chowdhury, Shashi Tharoor, Karti Chidambaram…they were all there. Some joined organically, while others had to be prodded by party president Mallikarjun Kharge. Initially, Hooda junior ensured that the busloads from Haryana arrived to give added heft, but what must have added to the party morale was that when Rahul gave a cry to the general public to join him during the protest to the Supreme Court, and there was an organic mobilisation of non-party workers that marched along with him. The recharged Congress also made it to India Gate to accompany the parents of the murdered Ankita Bhandari on their night vigil, as they pleaded for justice for their daughter. This kind of mobilisation has not happened in the last 12 years. The only catch is, can Rahul Gandhi, and the Congress, sustain the momentum over the next two and a half years, in time for the next general elections? In the end, it is the ballot that decides, with or without the Form 6.
Twist in the petition
Apparently, there was a move that all the 29 state election commissioners would jointly petition the President of India in favour of the CEC Gyanesh Kumar. The idea was to register their anguish at the protests as an attempt to taint the office of the EC, which is an impartial body, in an unfavourable light. But here’s the catch. The petition did not finally make it due to some internal differences amongst the state election commissioners, some of whom apparently were not in favour of supporting the CEC.
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