All The Ex-President’s Men

Nitin Gadkari is a sad man these days. Ever since his reelection debacle he has been sent into coventry by the BJP. The worst affected are his band of merry men. In another blow to him, Devendra Fadnavis has been appointed as the Maharashtra BJP president, side stepping Gadkari’s candidate Sudhir Mungatiwar.

What is surprising is that Gadkari has openly opposed Fadnavis’s appointment, in spite of the fact that this three time legislator has an untainted and clean record. In fact Gadkari had made his foray into the Assembly from Nagpur after the death of Fadnavis’s father.

All of Gadkari’s favorites are now in the cooler. Some who switched sides well in time are now thanking their stars.

 Black Money And Now Black Magic

The Former Karnataka minister D K Shiva Kumar has alleged that his rival P G R Sindhia has resorted to black magic to defeat him in the forthcoming polls. He said that a potently dangerous puja known as “Shatru Samhara” had been performed to eliminate him. The puja has been performed nine times, twice in Tamil Nadu.

Both Sindhia and Shiva Kumar are veterans who have been winning from Kanakpura and neighboring Sathanur constituencies since 1983. After the delimitation, Sathanur constituency was merged with Kanakpura and Sindhia could not contest the elections in 2008. This time the two stalwarts are facing each other for the first time. Next it will be Voodoo dolls and magic potions.

Setting Aside Egos

BJP Vice-President Uma Bharati is in favour of bringing former Karnataka CM B S Yeddyurappa back into the party fold by “setting aside ego”. The firebrand leader said those “at the helm of affairs” should take the initiative as “we should toe the line that ‘the country first, individuals second’. Ego has to be set aside”.

When asked if she would take the initiative she said that it was for the party’s top leaders to do so. The sannyasin described Yeddyurappa as a “swayamsevak” who had been a dedicated BJP worker. Uma recalled her five years days outside the BJP, and said she realised that fighting the BJP only harmed “national interests”. She also said that others who had left BJP felt exactly the same way.

How the party bosses take her comments is to be seen. Ruffled egos and hurt sentiments have been the catch word in the BJP in recent years. The list of disgruntled leaders is long and increasing.