Madhya Pradesh Political Punch: Whining Tone, Tense Trio, BJP's Songbirds & More

Whining tone

The number of complaints among the leaders of the opposition camp is increasing. The state government is completing two years. Together with the government, the MPCC president and the Leader of the Opposition are also completing two years. The Congress leaders hope the high command may think about some changes in the party in the coming days. So, each leader is staking his claim. Earlier, a former minister expressed his views in a whining tone. The former minister targeted the party’s state in-charge and the MPCC president.

A former president of the party took the leadership to task afterwards. A senior legislator is indirectly targeting the leadership whenever he gets an opportunity; besides, a former chief minister is playing his own game. The former chief minister is reportedly unhappy with some decisions of the high command. Because he cannot openly criticise the party leadership, he is working on the sly. However hard they may work, the party leadership is not going to make any change at least for now.

Savings is buzzword

The style of the BJP’s new state head is different. He lays emphasis on plain living as well as on saving each penny. The BJP office spends a huge sum on the fuel for running the vehicles of the party leaders. Thus, the new head of the party’s state unit has laid stress on buying electric vehicles. The party has begun to carry out his advice. The state unit head has bought an electric vehicle for him, and the party is getting ready to buy such cars for other leaders.

The politician thinks by using electric vehicles, the party will reduce the amount it is spending on petrol and diesel. After being elected the head of the state party unit, the leader is using the facilities provided by the party as little as possible. Whenever he goes to some place, he foots the hotel bills on his own. As he maintains a low profile, he is yet to impose a ban on the expenses of other leaders, but he will soon limit the expenses of other leaders.

Active again

A former MP from the state capital has again become active after the judgment by a court. The former MP became silent after she was denied a ticket. A judgment was to come in a case against her, so she stopped speaking on any issue.

But after the court absolved her of charges, she has begun to frown. Sadhvi’s recent statement again brought her to the limelight. Her remark was against a particular caste, but a few leaders of her party did not like the statement. According to them, because peace is prevailing in the state, such statements may disturb social harmony. Such leaders do not want MP to become another UP. About this Sadhvi, it is said that whatever she may say or do, the BJP is not going to give her any important task.

Tense trio

Mere mention of state cabinet expansion puts three ministers in tension. These three ministers were involved in one dispute or the other. There are talks in the media that the trio may be removed from the cabinet. So, they are opposed to cabinet expansion and making all efforts to save their ministerial berths.

To save his ministerial position, a minister has befriended a central minister. He is in touch with the minister. The other minister is totally counting on his boss. He knows only the boss can save his chair.  But the third minister does not have a god father. So, he wants to save his chair through caste equations with the head of state.

Tug of war

There seems to be no end in sight to the tug-of-war between a minister and a former minister in the state. The head of state recently visited the constituency of the minister. During his tour, he announced that the name of the area would be changed. The announcement came in the wake of the minister’s recommendations. The minister was happy after the announcement was made.

The former minister played his card soon after the announcement. He began to oppose the change of name of the area. The people of such a caste whom the politicians from Bhopal to Delhi are appeasing carried out the protest. The people of the community wrote to the minister, requesting him not to change the name of the area. Seeing the protest, the government is also not keen on getting into a dispute. Now, the minister feels not changing the name of the area will be an insult to him. Now, the minister is mounting pressure on the administration that the head of state’s announcement should be carried out. On an earlier occasion, the protest by the former minister yielded results: the minister’s efforts to create a new district came to naught. The same thing is happening in the present case.

BJP’s songbirds

Many BJP leaders are endowed with talents for singing, and a minister from Indore is leading the way. He sings bhajans (devotional songs) as well as the Bollywood numbers of the golden era of Indian music. There is another minister from the Chambal region, who, too, sings bhajans at public events, and his videos go viral on social media. A woman minister from the state capital also sings bhajans.

She, too, has a silky voice. At religious functions organised by her followers, she often presents bhajans which enchant the audience. People in the corridors of power say another minister is undergoing training for singing. She is the daughter-in-law of a former chief minister. Now, many people are waiting to see how many more BJP leaders work to improve their voice to sing at public functions.

[Story by Nitendra Sharma]