Anita Katyal | SIR Places RKM Monks in a Bind; Doubts a New over Priyanka’s Role

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has, over the years, acquired a reputation of forsaking his closest colleagues who, he believes, are speaking out of turn or not serving his interest. Anyone in the Janata Dal (United) who is under the illusion he or she is close to the party leadership generally is invariably abandoned. The list of leaders who have been cast aside by Nitish Kumar includes two late political stalwarts, George Fernandes and Sharad Yadav. While Yadav was disowned in 2017, Fernandes was denied a Lok Sabha ticket in 2009 though the three leaders were once together in the socialist movement. There have been several others since then — R. C. P. Singh, Prashant Kishor and N. K. Singh to name a few. Handpicked by Nitish Kumar, they all spoke and worked on his behalf, but somehow did not last long. Senior party leader K. C. Tyagi is the latest to find himself marginalised in the JD(U). This follows Mr Tyagi’s letter to the Prime Minister requesting a Bharat Ratna for Nitish Kumar. This did not go down well with the JD(U) as it believes Mr Tyagi was acting on behalf of the Bharatiya Janata Party which wants to instal its chief minister in Patna. A Bharat Ratna for Nitish Kumar would suggest retirement from active politics. The Special Intensive Revision of voter lists being undertaken by the Election Commission of India is posing unique problems for the electorate. Take the case of the monks at the Ramakrishna Mission in poll-bound West Bengal where the SIR exercise is currently underway. As in the case of all voters, the monks are required to list the names of their biological parents in their forms along with various other documents needed to prove that he or she is a legitimate voter. But the monks perform a shraddh on their induction whereupon they sever all links to their families and Shri Ramakrishna becomes their parent. The mission is working on resolving this ticklish issue and even holds workshops for monks who have received notices from the Election Commission. It would be worth checking if monks from other orders besides West Bengal have also received similar notices. The Tamil Nadu unit of the Congress is witnessing a tug of war between the old guard and the Rahul

Gandhi lobby. While the seniors want the Congress to strengthen its alliance with the ruling DMK, others like Manickam Tagore and Jothimani would like the party to explore a partnership with actor- turned Vijay’s party, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK). The party was hoping that Rahul Gandhi’s recent visit to Tamil Nadu would help clarify matters and ensure that the two factions work unitedly. But Rahul Gandhi’s statement criticising the Censor Board for denying Vijay’s eagerly-awaited movie Jana Nayagan a Pongal release has only added to the confusion. From all accounts, Rahul Gandhi is letting both sides do what they want while apparently also assuring the DMK that their alliance will continue. The Congress leader is said to be in agreement with his young colleagues that the possibility of an agreement with Vijay’s TVK be kept alive to press for a greater number of seats and power-sharing in case the DMK-led alliance retains the state. Though there is a growing demand in the Congress that Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra be assigned a larger national role, there are misgivings in the party over her latest assignment as head of the screening committee for the forthcoming Assam assembly election. This panel is mandated to zero in on the best candidates from the shortlist submitted by the selection committee of the concerned state. There is an overwhelming view that members of the Nehru-Gandhi family should not be boxed and given a specific responsibility. Instead, they should have a freewheeling role which requires them to provide overall leadership and direction to the cadre, focusing on the party’s political and ideological messaging. Congress insiders said a similar mistake was made when Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was given charge of Uttar Pradesh where she proved ineffective and was subsequently dubbed a failure. It is feared that she will be again targeted in case of a poor performance by the Congress in Assam though her role is limited to finalising the names of candidates along with other committee members. This obviously will not augur well for Priyanka Gandhi as she recently proved her mettle in the Winter Session of Parliament. At a time when Opposition leaders are busy writing books, the Congress Party’s most prolific and popular politician-cum author Shashi Tharoor said he was not planning any new book until the Kerala election. He made this remark at the recent Apeejay Literary Festival in Kolkata during the launch of his latest book, The Sage Who Reimagined Hinduism: The Life, Lessons, & Legacy of Sree Narayana Guru. Does this mean that Mr Tharoor is taking a break till the upcoming Kerala Assembly election or the next Lok Sabha contest which is not due till 2029? Given the inroads made by the BJP in Thiruvananthapuram in last month’s local elections, Mr Tharoor has to work doubly hard to ensure the victory of MLAs in his constituency in the Assembly polls to remain