Delhi Confidential: Delhi Dash After Elevation

Within hours of announcing Bihar Cabinet minister Nitin Nabin Prasad Sinha as the national working president, the BJP chalked out an itinerary of his Monday’s Delhi visit. Sinha is scheduled to reach IGI’s Terminal 2 at 10 am where he will be received by Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and the BJP’s seven Lok Sabha MPs from the capital. An hour later, Sinha will receive a grand welcome at the BJP national headquarters as part of proceedings, which party insiders say underline the possibility of his eventual elevation as the party chief.

Left, Loss & Feedback

It is not every day that a political party, after suffering an electoral setback, seeks the views of the people to make sense of the defeat, identify the mistakes or shortcomings and take corrective steps. The Communist Party of India (CPI), a constituent of the ruling Left front in Kerala, has taken the unusual step of asking people to write to it of what they think are the reasons for the Left’s dismal performance in the local body elections. That the CPI had to adopt such an unusual way to gauge the minds of the people is interesting given that the Communist parties keep boasting of a stronger cadre presence and ground connection than other parties. CPI Kerala state secretary Binoy Viswam has put out the email and postal address for the people to send in their suggestions.