Shah orchestrates musical chairs

Manas Dasgupta

After years, the BJP in Gujarat dons a new look with a new CM, party president, Speaker and Deputy Speaker. Also, half of the ministers in the 25-member Cabinet are new faces. It was a sort of musical chairs by party president Amit Shah — the state party president vacating the office to take over as CM, an MLA taking over as state president, the Speaker and his deputy made ministers, a dropped minister appointed Speaker and some pampered ministers sidelined and hitherto neglected MLAs made ministers. All changes were made keeping in mind the ongoing Patel and Dalit agitations in the state.

But the question uppermost on the minds of the people as also the BJP rank and file is how long will the new Vijay Rupani ministry last. It is believed that the Rupani government is only an interim arrangement till Shah is relieved of his national duties and he takes over the reins of the state. This is bound to happen sooner or later, and certainly before the state go to the polls in December next year.

Though Anandiben Patel, while putting in her papers had cited “advancing age” as the reason for her “voluntary retirement” from the office of the Chief Minister, Union Kalraj Misra was recently quoted as saying there was “no such age bar” in the BJP setup.

That Anandiben tried to convince Modi to allow her to continue in office at least till the Assembly elections is no secret. She was keen to lead the party to victory to silence her critics (read Shah) by proving that the party under her leadership had not lost any ground. But that was not to be. Party sources believe that Modi gave in to Shah’s demands.

Ties between Shah and Anandiben have never been cordial. His was the lone voice of dissent when Modi named Anandiben as his successor in Gujarat. Despite being drafted at the national level as party president, Shah has not given up his dream of becoming CM of his home state, say sources. It was at his instance that Anandiben was made to quit, her advancing age a mere excuse.

The groundwork done, there was nothing to stop Shah from donning the CM’s mantle but he had to hold back because of the approaching elections in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. Shah has elbowed out Anandiben from the CMO and has installed his own loyalists on key posts. It is expected that once arrangements for the Punjab and UP elections are made, Shah will be back in Gujarat as CM, well before the Assembly elections there.

Patel, Dalit stirs weaken

The new Vijay Rupani government can legitimately claim credit for creating cracks in the two organisations spearheading agitations, one for reservation benefits for Patels and the other for “justice” for Dalits.

The developments, though not unexpected, came thick and fast. Fissures have developed in the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leading the Patel stir and the Gujarat Anushuchit Jati Sangharsh Samiti, one of the umbrella organisations demanding justice for Dalits in the aftermath of the Una incident. Both organisations blame “political interference” but by different parties, for the internal squabbles.

Even as sedition-accused Hardik Patel, PAAS convener, outlined fresh programmes to re-launch the reservation stir from Rajasthan, his closest aides Ketan Patel and Chirag Patel, co-accused in the case, launched a scathing attack, accusing him of embezzlement.

The cracks in the Patel agitation appeared a day after senior leaders of the Dalit Sangharsh Samiti, on an indefinite fast in Gandhinagar along with family members of the three Dalit youths killed in police firing in Surendranagar district in September, 2012, quit the organisation, alleging political interference.

Ketan and Chirag, members of the five-member PAAS “core committee,” took to the social media to circulate their letter to Hardik, accusing him of holding the Patel community to ransom. It alleged that Hardik was organising the agitation for his “personal benefit.”

They accused Hardik of misappropriation of funds and threatened to disclose his “secret deeds,” if he failed to mend his ways. Hardik refused to comment and said the attack seemed to be “politically motivated.” He was, of course, hinting at the BJP government.

Though the cracks do not signal the end of the stirs, these will certainly help the government to further weaken the movements, hurting the Congress efforts to rejuvenate itself by taking advantage of the agitations.

Modi & Olympics

Should PM Narendra Modi be blamed for India’s poor performance in the 2016 Olympics? By Modi’s own yardstick, he should be.

The Leader of the Opposition, Shankarsinh Vaghela, raised the issue in the House, recalling what Modi had said about India’s performance in the 2012 Olympics when he was CM. Holding the then PM Manmohan Singh responsible, he and had asked the then Central Government to “hang its head in shame.” for the poor showing.

Deputy CM Nitin Patel contested Vaghela’s claim, but quickly retreated when the Congress leader offered to produce Modi’s taped statement. The issue died in the din with the Opposition seeking justice for the Dalits and the subsequent suspension of all Congress MLAs.