Cold wisdom
Few have rumbles the reasons for Samajwadi Party’s national president Akhilesh Yadav – an important segment of the INDIA bloc – campaigning so hard in Madhya Pradesh. Many political experts are trying to figure out the causes behind such intense electioneering by him, though the SP does not have a strong base in the state. Yadav knows the votes going to the SP will damage the Congress’s prospects in the assembly election. Yet, he pulled out all the stops to drum up support for his party candidates. It was heard that Yadav had taken to heart the words of a veteran leader of the Congress. For this reason, he put in all his might in this election. Yadav took to heart a few words that the Congress leader said to the media. Other leaders of the party tried to pacify the SP chief, but by the time such efforts had been made, it was too late. William Shakespeare aptly said, “Wisdom cries in the streets, and no man regards it.”
Worried politicians
Anxiety is writ large on the faces of many politicians after the videos of a Union Minister’s son went viral. Because the videos have created such a political storm that other leaders began to ask their children whether they were connected to any such cases that may raise dust. The BJP and the Congress have many leaders whose children are managing their finances. Such leaders have begun to question their children. The leaders of the ruling dispensation are more worried about such issues than those of the opposition parties. Because the leaders of the ruling party have been in power for a long time, their cabbage has grown, and their children have also become active in investing money. A minister recently wanted to know his sons whether they were involved in any financial deal that might cause trouble.
Not given importance
The din of electioneering has eclipsed an incident in which a former minister of the Union government quit the Congress to join the AIMIM. This former minister also held a public meeting in favour of the AIMIM candidate, but the Congress leaders did not pay any heed to him. The former minister had been seeking time from the party high command wishing to meet them. Without getting any response from senior leaders, took the membership of the AIMIM and addressed a public meeting seeking votes for the party candidates belonging to his community. The former minister used to get a lot of importance in the party, and this was the reason why he was given a berth in the central ministry. A changing Congress has stopped giving him any weight, so he defected to Owaisi’s AIMIM. The politician has left the Congress several times but returned to its fold. For this reason, nobody paid any heed to his leaving the party.
Behind the curtain
(Election expresso cartoons) There is a difference between the style of working of BJP and Congress election in-charges. The in-charge of the Congress is seen working in front of the screen, but the one of the BJP is performing his duties from behind the curtain. The Congress in-charge, despite holding an important position, has played the role of a spokesperson. He wanted to draw as much media attention as possible. For this reason, the MPCC president and a former chief minister had to make strategies for the party. On the contrary, the BJP’s in-charge, immediately after arriving in the state, announced that he would not hold any press conference. Nor should party men put up his photographs anywhere. He continued to monitor the party’s functioning from behind the curtain. Now, only time will tell whose strategy was more effective?
Chip off the old block
The children’s canvassing for their parents in an election is not something new. But the two-year-old son of a Congress candidate and the five-year-old child of another politician have won the heart of many in their respective constituencies. When the five-year-old boy walked up to a rostrum and appealed to the audience – in a low, hesitating drawl, to vote for his father – many could not control their tears. Who is this five-year-old-boy? He is none but the son of Congress candidate from Raghogarh, Jaivardhan Singh and the grandson of Digvijaya Singh. Similar is the story of the more than two-year-old son of Vipin Wankhede, Congress candidate from Agar-Malwa. This little master, riding a toddler cycle and carrying a poster – Vote for my Papa – won the hearts of many. Not only that, when he touched the feet of elderly voters, some of them took the boy into their lap. Besides these little ones, the son of minister, Bhupendra Singh, canvassed for his father. The daughter of another minister Vishvas Sarang, too, campaigned for her dad. All of them are a chip off the old block. These children will rule the state one day. Who knows?
Stranger than fiction
You may have heard of a jinxed house, an ill-fated train or bus, an unlucky tree, a voodoo hotel, but have you ever come across an accursed position in any department? Your answer will perhaps be in the negative. There is such a jinxed post in the Madhya Pradesh government, and that too in the higher education department. The employees of the department say that whosoever becomes the higher education minister, besides losing the next election, goes up the creek. Umashankar Gupta was the higher education minister in the previous Shivraj-led government. He not only lost the 2018 election but also faced many difficulties. Another politician is Jaibhan Singh Pawaiya, who became the higher education minister, also lost the next election. He, too, is in the soup, struggling to remain relevant in politics. Firebrand Congress MLA Jitu Patwari was the higher education minister in the Kamal Nath-led government which collapsed after 15 months of its formation. The BJP snatched power from the Congress. Patwari, barred from attending the assembly session for his unruly behavior, has been in a pickle since that incident. Now, everyone is waiting for the outcome of the Ujjain South assembly constituency from where present higher education Mohan Yadav is contesting. Is the post of higher education minister pointing the bone at Yadav and Patwari? Or will they break the jinx? The answer lies in the womb of time.
