The latest media revelations about the functioning of the Election Commission of India and the manner in which the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls is being conducted has set off a race among Opposition parties to organise protests and claim credit for the campaign. It was expected that the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the Trinamul Congress would use the ammunition provided by the media expose to collectively demand the resignation of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. But the Opposition parties have shown no signs of battling it together. Instead of holding a meeting of the INDIA bloc parties to chart out a joint action plan, the Congress and the five Left parties have made separate announcements about their respective nationwide protest marches. The Samajwadi Party and the Trinamul Congress have yet to announce their plans. And now the Opposition has fresh competition with a new player throwing its hat in the ring. The fledgling Cockroach Janta Party, which has so far focused on student issues and the education sector, has shifted gears and is taking on the Election Commission. Its leaders have issued a 48-hour ultimatum for the CEC’s resignation failing which they will launch a nationwide agitation. The question is who will claim ownership of the outcome if Gyanesh Kumar does resign.
He was known to be Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s favourite but after the party’s defeat in the recent Delhi University Students’ Union election, Kanhaiya Kumar is no longer the blue-eyed boy that he once was. As AICC-in charge of the National Students Union of India, Mr Kumar is facing flak as he was responsible for the selection of candidates for the DUSU polls. He has also been working closely with Rahul Gandhi’s team in organising the Chhatron Ki Goonj events. According to Congress insiders, an angry Rahul Gandhi has decided to distance himself from Kanhaiya Kumar and the buzz is that he will no longer be involved in the forthcoming Chhatron Ki Goonj programmes. Besides being furious over the handling of the DUSU elections, Rahul Gandhi is also learnt to be uncomfortable sharing the stage with influencers and has made it known that he would rather that students are given preference.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has always prided itself on its robust organisational structure and tradition of encouraging internal consultations. But, of late, the frequency of these intra-party deliberations has declined. For instance, a full meeting of the party’s national executive has not been convened since 2023 although its constitution stipulates that the body should ordinarily meet once every three months. The national executive is considered the party’s highest authority. Its meetings are attended by leaders from across the country, providing them a platform for collective deliberation on political and organisational matters. For instance, the last meeting, attended by over 300 senior leaders from the party’s state units, was held ahead of elections in nine state Assemblies and the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. It proved to be a useful exercise as the discussions and the various resolutions adopted provided a political direction to the participants. Several Assembly polls have been held since then and another set of state elections are due next year but there is no word on the long overdue meeting of the national executive. In fact, the BJP president is yet to constitute the national executive and the party’s parliamentary board.
Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has not been seen or heard in Delhi for some months as he is no longer a Rajya Sabha member and holds no position in the party. He has, however, been active in his home state Madhya Pradesh. Mr Singh now plans to undertake a padayatra from the Mahakal Temple in Ujjain to the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, starting October 20. Mr Singh maintains this is a “non-political” activity, meant to highlight the theft of donations at the Ram Temple. But there are few takers for this explanation as Mr Singh and politics are synonymous. Currently out in the cold, Mr Singh hopes to use the yatra to remain relevant with an eye on securing his son Jaivardhan Singh’s political future. Mr Singh appears to be following in the footsteps of his mentor Congress stalwart Arjun Singh who maintained that irrespective of what it takes, a politician must always remain in the news and never out of the public eye. Like his Narmada Yatra, Digvijaya Singh is clearly depending on his forthcoming foot march to ensure his visibility.
Azad Samaj Party leader Chandra Shekhar Azad has made his base in Uttar Pradesh and is currently busy preparing for next year’s state Assembly elections. It was, therefore, intriguing to learn that he has been trying to get in touch with Tamil Nadu chief minister C. Joseph Vijay. His aides recently made discreet enquiries with Tamil journalists about the chief minister’s contact numbers and his office staff handling political appointments. It is not clear why Mr Azad is reaching out to Vijay at a time when he is focused on crucial Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh. It is difficult to believe Mr Azad’s supporters who say he is exploring a possible tie up with Mr Vijay’s party even as he is still struggling to expand his base in Uttar Pradesh.
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