Inside Track: Random selection

The surprise appointment of Nitin Nabin, 46, the relatively inexperienced MLA from Bihar, as BJP working president is the upshot of a long-standing tug-of-war between the RSS and the two-member BJP high command as to who should lead the party. The RSS wanted a president who would keep the Sangh in the loop. Its preference was Nagpur boys Nitin Gadkari or Devendra Fadnavis, or a senior leader of stature like Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Amit Shah’s choice was ministers Dharmendra Pradhan or Bhupendra Yadav, both in their 50s, who proved their mettle as his efficient deputies in challenging Assembly polls. The name of G Kishan Reddy, Shah’s former deputy, also came up. J P Nadda overstayed as party chief far beyond his three-year term due to the stalemate. Last month, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat met Shah in the Andamans and Nabin’s name cropped up — a choice so random that neither side raised objections. According to insiders, the idea was that Nabin, largely unknown outside his home state, would be first tested as a working president and the name of the full-time president decided later. But BJP’s media managers immediately announced his name and even offered reasons for his selection: He was much younger than any other contender and did not come from a dominant caste. Factors that  should ordinarily have worked against him!

Pawar dynamics

Gautam Adani, the government’s favourite billionaire, inaugurated the new AI educational centre at Baramati, the Pawar family’s home ground, last month. Adani, who has funded the centre, is working to reunite the feuding Pawar family camps. Already, the rival NCP factions are contesting local polls together in some districts, such as Pune. Adani recently met Ajit Pawar in Mumbai and Sharad Pawar in Delhi to suggest a compromise: Ajit’s MLAs would support Sharad Pawar’s re-election to the Rajya Sabha in April. In exchange, Supriya Sule is willing for the NCP(SP) to merge formally with the NCP(AP), provided her father officially heads the united party, even if Ajit calls the shots in Maharashtra and would be acknowledged as his uncle’s heir. Ajit is yet to agree to the second proposal. Adani is an old friend of the Pawars. Although very few MLAs still remain with Sharad Pawar, the BJP realises his important role as a respected mediator in the INDIA bloc, placating allies disillusioned with Rahul Gandhi’s leadership.

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Obtuse moves

There is growing disenchantment in the Congress over some recent party decisions, perceived as downright obtuse. In Maharashtra, Prakash Ambedkar’s VBA was allotted a generous 62 seats as an ally for the Mumbai civic polls, although his political relevance has eroded. In fact, at the last moment, he surrendered 20 of the earmarked seats since he could not muster enough candidates. In Tamil Nadu, DMK leader M K Stalin is furious over party leaders close to Rahul criticising the DMK’s fiscal policies, hardly the best tactic for arriving at a cordial seat-sharing formula. In J&K, during the final stages of a PIL hearing calling for the eviction from government accommodation of former state legislators, it emerged that one of three favoured politicians the L-G’s administration had permitted to continue unauthorisedly in his residence for seven years was the high-profile Congress chief spokesperson Ravinder Sharma. Disgruntled state Congresspersons grumble about a BJP sleeper cell in the state party.

Demand outstrips supply

Someone in the Department of Posts clearly goofed up while releasing the commemorative stamp to mark the RSS’s centenary celebrations last October. Normally, a first day cover of a Rs 5 stamp sells for between Rs 10 and Rs 15, depending on whether it has a postal stamp. Currently, the RSS centenary stamps are being sold by the e-post office website for an astonishing Rs 300. The stamp shortage is despite the fact that 2.06 lakh stamps were printed. Either the department did not calculate the demand or did not reserve a quota for the group being honoured, as is customary.

Gogoi’s outreach

With the Assam Assembly polls approaching, Gaurav Gogoi, Rahul’s trusted aide, is on an outreach mission. He recently met Sushmita Dev, the feisty daughter of the late Central minister Santosh Mohan Dev. Sushmita quit the Congress in 2021 to join the TMC and was rewarded with a Rajya Sabha seat. The Congress is nervous about its standing in Assam’s Barak Valley, despite the large number of Muslim voters because of extensive SIR voter revisions.