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Buzzword: IS RAHUL MARRYING?

opinionBuzzword: IS RAHUL MARRYING?

Is Rahul marrying?
The entire Allahabad, as well as Delhi, is abuzz with the rumour that Rahul Gandhi is getting married soon. Wedding preparations are said to be going on at his ancestral house Anand Bhawan in Allahabad. The girl is a Kashmiri Brahmin, said to be the daughter of a very close friend of Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi. The rumour started after Sonia Gandhi visited Allahabad last month accompanied with the friend’s daughter and stayed at Anand Bhawan. It was presumed that Sonia Gandhi had brought her future daughter-in-law to show her Anand Bhawan. However, as yet there is no clarity on the matter, with those involved refusing to confirm or deny reports of an impending wedding.

‘Priyanka must contest’
If the Congress does well in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections under the leadership of Priyanka Vadra, then she, and not Rahul, may even be made the face of the party in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The buzz is that she is under pressure to contest the UP Assembly elections, and she If she decides to do so, she may contest from Allahabad South or from Phulpur. The Allahabad district Congress leaders have already started preparations to welcome her.

Sanjay, Amita try to be in Priyanka’s good booksUttar Pradesh’s Congress leaders are vying to be in Priyanka Vadra’s good books, in anticipation that she will lead the party in the Assembly elections there next year. Leading the pack are Sanjay Singh, the “king” of Amethi and his wife Amita. Singh was even hoping to become the PCC chief, but that came to naught once the Congress started looking for a Brahmin candidate for the post. Amita Singh is hoping to get a Congress ticket to fight from Amethi. However, Rahul Gandhi is trying to woo Sanjay Singh’s son from his first marriage, Anant Vikram Singh, into the Congress fold and give him the ticket. Anant Vikram is more popular than Amita in the constituency. But then he is a BJP leader and the BJP may even given him a ticket to fight the elections.

BJP wants Ajit to merge
Satpal Singh, the erstwhile Mumbai police commissioner is unhappy that he was not accommodated in the Union Council of Ministers to keep Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Ajit Singh happy. Satpal Singh had defeated Ajit Singh from Baghpat in the 2014 LS elections. The BJP is keen to have some kind of an understanding with Ajit Singh, a Jat leader, ahead of the UP elections. In fact the BJP wants Ajit Singh to merge his party with it. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi is said to be talking to Ajit Singh on this. The BJP has even promised him a RS berth, but the problem is that Singh is talking to Mulayam and Shivpal Singh Yadav as well. The Samajwadi Party too wants the RLD to merge with it. But Mulayam’s other brother, Ramgopal Yadav is opposed to Ajit Singh.

‘Advani will save Rahul, TMC’
The fate of seven Trinamool Congress MPs, allegedly implicated in the Narada sting operation, hangs in balance as their case is pending before the Ethics Committee of Parliament. Even Rahul Gandhi’s parliamentary future depends on the Ethics Committee, which is probing the case of his alleged British citizenship. But fortunately for both Rahul and the Trinamool MPs, the Ethics Committee is headed by veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani, who has been heard saying that that there is no case against them.

Beware of stings
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while talking to the newly inducted ministers, is said to have asked them to be cautious about their phones being tapped or they being subjected to sting operations. He also asked them to keep their family members away from the process of decision making. It is rumoured that one minister was shifted to a relatively lightweight portfolio because of interference from the minister’s family members in the process of governance.

Kishor at sea in Congress
Congress’ campaign strategist Prashant Kishor is losing his grip on the party organisation. Top sources said that Kishor’s decision to pitch former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit as the face of the party in the UP Assembly elections caught many leaders, including Dikshit, unawares. Ever since Kishor has taken charge, his team has started calling Congress leaders, asking them to arrive in Lucknow at short notice. While initially many tried obliged, they are now avoiding his calls.

 

 

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