Today in Politics: LS polls up next, Shivraj pushes on in campaign mode; Revanth in Delhi

As Vikas Pathak reported, “While a section of party insiders believes that there will be new CM faces in all three states — with perhaps some surprise names — another section believes that Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s claim will be difficult to overlook after the stupendous victory of the party in Madhya Pradesh.”

Chouhan has refused to comment on his future as CM. “I had not been a contender for the chief minister earlier, nor am I one today. As a party worker, I have always carried out whatever work the BJP assigned me to the best of my ability, with dedication and honesty,” he said in a video statement posted on his official X account on Tuesday.

The nitty-gritty of government formation

While the BJP has set its sights now on the national elections, uncertainty still surrounds the Congress in the states that it lost, with the state units leaving decision-making power with the high command. In Madhya Pradesh, the state leadership has zeroed in on EVM tampering as the reason for its loss.

In Telangana, the Congress may have decided to appoint A Revanth Reddy as the next CM but it has yet to figure out how to accommodate other senior leaders, almost all of whom are his detractors, as ministers. The party has told these leaders that it won’t be a “one-man show”. Revanth will be in Delhi on Wednesday to meet the party’s high command to discuss government formation.

These are the three key takeaways from Manoj CG’s report:

• The immediate challenge for the party is to keep its flock intact and ensure that CM-designate Revanth Reddy takes along senior leaders as portfolios and responsibilities are assigned.
• There is a proposal to make two leaders the Deputy CMs — one each from the Scheduled Caste and Backward Class communities — is on the table. But differences have cropped up as senior MLA Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, who belongs to Mala (SC) community, is said to be not in favour of multiple Deputy CMs.
• One of the proposals was to make Bhatti and a leader from the BC community Deputy CMs. The frontrunner from the BC community is said to be Warangal East MLA and former state minister Konda Surekha.

The upshot: As Chhattisgarh has illustrated, not dealing with these fissures at the onset allows grievances to fester and damage the party in the long run. For almost five years, the party did not deal with the differences between Bhupesh Baghel and T S Singh Deo. It was only this July, with Assembly elections approaching, that the party leadership brokered a truce between the two. But it was too late by then. Read Jayprakash S Naidu’s article decoding the likely reasons for the party’s defeat and Manoj CG’s interview of Singh Deo. Both provide insights into the lessons that Chhattisgarh holds lessons for the Congress about mistakes it should avoid.

Meanwhile, PTI reports that Mizoram’s CM-designate Lalduhoma is likely to meet Governor Dr Hari Babu Kambhampati at 10 am to stake the claim to form the government. The council of ministers may take oath on Friday, the news agency quoted a source in Lalduhoma’s Zoram People’s Movement as saying.

On the agenda in Parliament

Among the top agenda of both Houses is Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s presentation of the “Supplementary Demands for Grants — First Batch for 2023-24”, or additional grant that the government requires to meet its required expenditure.

In the Lok Sabha, Union Home Minister Amit Shah who tabled the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, in the Lower House on Tuesday will respond to the debate on Wednesday and move that the draft laws be passed.

Meanwhile, the Upper House will continue its discussion on the economic situation in the country, which was initiated by Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien on Tuesday.