In a major embarrassment for the BJP, the party was unable to announce the names of its Karnataka candidates after its election committee first met. It took three more days of wrangling for the final list to be announced. No side seemed happy at the final outcome. At the start of the poll panel meeting, a furious B S Yediyurappa proclaimed that there was no need for his presence since, instead of the usual practice of selecting from three contenders for a particular constituency, there was just a single name per seat in many cases. This was the handiwork of the powerful general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh, who expected to call the shots. Yediyurappa suggested the surveys cited by Santhosh for selecting candidates were suspect and that the organisation secretary had pushed for his own apolitical sycophants. (Jagadish Shettar was one of Santhosh’s victims.)
Yediyurappa warned that the BJP was not on a strong wicket in the state at present and if the original list of candidates remained unchanged, the party could face a virtual wipe out. The former CM said he would prefer not to be associated with such an electoral debacle. Later that day, he was seen eating alone at a popular south Indian restaurant in Delhi.
His arguments seem to have carried weight with PM Narendra Modi, who held up the final list. For the next three days, there were hectic discussions with party president J P Nadda and Karnataka leaders. Significantly, Santhosh and Yediyurappa were never called into the room at the same time. Later, Santhosh’s face suggested that things had not entirely gone his way. An RSS leader even chided the BJP high command for insulting Santhosh, who is the RSS representative in the party. However, a pragmatic Modi knows that if he hopes to do well in the state in 2024, he needs the help of caste-based politicians with their ear to the ground and not selections based entirely on ideological considerations, and personal likes and dislikes. Santhosh’s style of functioning is considered too autocratic. A senior BJP leader pointed out that Karnataka is not Gujarat, where all sitting MLAs can be unseated and the party can still expect to win the state.
Rahul Gandhi was so incensed by Sharad Pawar’s spirited defence favouring a Supreme Court-appointed inquiry into controversial businessman Gautam Adani, rather than Gandhi’s pet hobby horse of a joint parliamentary committee, that there was talk he might hold a press conference the next day. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had to enlist the help of Sonia Gandhi to avoid a showdown with UPA leaders.
In Karnataka, Rahul once again focused largely on Adani in his speech. In contrast, Congress leaders like Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar are anxious to fight the campaign on local issues, such as Nandini versus Amul and corruption in the BJP-led state government. The demand for Rahul’s presence at campaign rallies in Karnataka is relatively muted. Incidentally, Congress CMs Bhupesh Baghel and Ashok Gehlot have also generally avoided the Adani topic, both states where Adani has significant presence.
Nitish Kumar, who has been at the forefront in advocating a united Opposition alliance in 2024, with the Congress playing a key role, was disappointed by his meeting with Rahul who appeared to have an exaggerated impression of the Congress’s strength and demanded concessions from other parties while conceding little in return. When Rahul asked Kumar to speak to Opposition parties on his behalf, the Bihar CM protested saying he was not an emissary for the Congress. He later suggested to Kharge that Sonia should also be involved in meetings with Opposition allies. When Kharge demurred, Nitish commented candidly, “He may be your rajkumar (prince), but he is not ours.”
Bakhtiar Dadabhoy’s comprehensive new biography, Homi Bhabha: A Life, explores all aspects of the multifaceted genius. Bhabha was passionate about music and painting, apart from mathematics, physics and institution building. His discerning eye ensured that the 300 paintings and sculptures selected for the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) included many of the best works of contemporary artists of that period.
For painting the entrance of the new TIFR building, Bhabha first approached Pablo Picasso. However, Bhabha could offer as remuneration only one first-class airfare, a stay at the Taj hotel and trips to places of historic interest. Eventually, M F Husain was selected to execute the mural, which took two years to complete. The final payment was a meagre Rs 15,000.
