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Shivpal may form Lok Dal

opinionShivpal may form Lok Dal

Split?

Shivpal may form Lok Dal

Shivpal Yadav may split the Samajwadi Party and form the Lok Dal. He will also apply for the same symbol used by Charan Singh’s Lok Dal, a farmer and two bullocks. After Charan Singh, the symbol was with Rajendra Choudhury. After Choudhury, the symbol is with his son, who is with Mulayam Singh Yadav. The buzz is that Shivpal Yadav’s Lok Dal will support the BJP. This rumour was fuelled after Mulayam’s second son Prateek and his wife Aparna, and then Shivpal Yadav met Yogi Adityanath.

Growing Resentment

All is not well in BSP

The Bahujan Samaj Party may be heading for a split, post its disastrous performance in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. Resentment is brewing within the BSP against the working style of party chief Mayawati. She has done nothing to review the poor performance of the party. BSP workers complain that by wooing the Brahmins in particular, Mayawati has abandoned Kanshiram’s ideology. Kanshiram’s “bahujan samaj” was about the growth of Dalits, MBCs and Muslims. Leaders who were close to Kanshiram say that the drift started with the striking of the BJP-BSP alliance in 1995, when she became Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for the first time. Her confidant Satish Mishra, a Brahmin, was instrumental in getting that alliance struck. Mishra’s father was associated with RSS. Mayawati totally ignored backward classes such as Kushwahas, Sainis, Patels, Nishads, etc. BSP workers are also saying that Mayawati gave 100 odd tickets to primarily upper caste Muslims, thus dividing the Muslim vote and playing into the hands of the BJP. Also, so many tickets to Muslims led to Hindu consolidation in favour of the BJP.

Popular

Congress’ Rana may be Yogi’s candidate from Gorakhpur

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is searching for a candidate to replace him in the Lok Sabha from the Gorakhpur Parliamentary seat. That could be the young Rana Rahul Singh, who, like Yogi, is a Rajput and is part of the Gorakhpur Math. The only catch is that Rana is the general secretary of the District Youth Congress. He fought as the Congress candidate from the Gorakhpur Urban Assembly seat and despite the Modi wave polled around 61,000 votes. The buzz is that since the BJP does not have a strong candidate for the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat, Yogi wants Rana. Yogi invited Rana for his swearing in ceremony. Rana was a guest even when Yogi hosted a snacks party. Rana has been working for the development of Gorakhpur and has been canvassing to get an AIIMS there. Does Rahul Gandhi know that he may end up losing a promising young leader to the BJP? Now Jitin Prasada wants the leadership to make Rana the Youth Congress president of UP and give him the Congress ticket for the Gorakhpur LS bypoll.

Doubtful

Sharad Yadav may be opposition candidate for president

Janata Dal United’s Sharad Yadav may emerge as the joint Opposition candidate for President, to pre-empt Prime Minister Narendra Modi in case he lobs the name of Mulayam Singh Yadav. If Mulayam is named, the Opposition will not have any choice but to support him. If Sharad Yadav is named, the Opposition can even divide the BJP, as leaders like L.K. Advani, Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha will support Sharad Yadav over MSY. But if there is no consensus, the Opposition can once again moot the name of Pranab Mukherjee. The names of Venkaiah Naidu and Narendra Jadhav too are doing the rounds as NDA’s candidate. Jadhav is a Dalit with an RSS background and is writing a book on B.R. Ambedkar.

Upset

Walia approached BJP

Dr A.K. Walia, one of the senior most leaders of the Delhi unit of the Congress, approached the BJP along with Amrish Gautam. But while the BJP inducted Gautam, it turned Walia away because of his old rivalry with Harsh Vardhan. Walia is angry with Congress because Ajay Maken denied his candidate Subhash Jain a ticket to fight the MCD elections. But then Jain is not even a primary member of the party, and most amazingly, Jain did not even ask for a ticket. Jain, meanwhile,
has been claiming that he donated money to the party fund, while the party says that it has not received any money. So where did the money go? Apart from Walia, ex PCC chief Arvinder Lovely and Haroon Yusuf are also upset. But then they have been opposed to Maken for a very long time. Former Delhi Chief Minster Sheila Dikshit has refused to campaign for the Congress in the MCD elections. She is giving the excuse that because she was Congress’ CM candidate in UP, for a little while, she now belongs to UP and should not be campaigning in Delhi.

Rising Tensions

Mamata feels anxious

Mamata Banerjee’s anxiety levels have shot up ever since her bargaining power over Teesta water sharing with Bangladesh has decreased, post the BJP’s remarkable wins in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand elections. The Central government is in the driver’s seat now. Mamata has been sitting on the matter for over a year and is in no mood to oblige Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. President Pranab Mukherjee has now summoned Mamata as he wants to mediate between Hasina and her. The Sharada and Narada issues have also hit Mamata’s bargaining power.

 

 

 

 

 

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