Changing equations

Notwithstanding the fact that the BJP has several factions led by senior leaders, the rally on The Ridge to mark the completion of two years of the government saw all of them heaping praises on each other. Both BJP national working president JP Nadda and Union Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur praised Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur for the welfare schemes launched for the people. In a stark difference to the earlier functions, big posters of Anurag Thakur, along with that of Amit Shah, Nadda and the Chief Minister, adorned the rally venue and Peterhoff, where MoUs were signed. This was in contrast to the earlier occasions when a deliberate attempt was made to ignore the Hamirpur MP. Is it because of his proximity to Shah or changing power equations, quipped a party MLA, loyalist of former CM PK Dhumal.

Lucky Satti!

State BJP chief Satpal Singh Satti is fortunate and is the first president of the party to adorn the office for nearly eight years. Satti, who was appointed president in February 2012, replacing Khimi Ram. The latter was inducted into the ministry, but lost the Assembly polls in 2017. Satti was re-elected president for the third time in January 2016 for a three-year term. The new president was to be elected by January 2019 and there was no provision for another term for Satti, but the elections were postponed due to the Lok Sabha polls and later due to two byelections. Now, it is said that the president will be elected after January 14 (Uttarayan) as the present month is not considered auspicious. “Whatever may the circumstances or reasons, Satti is all set to set a record, which will be difficult to beat,” said senior BJP leader.

Disgruntled public

The two-year bash of the state government has not enthused the common man, who did not evince much interest in occupying chairs placed at various district headquarters to view its live coverage. Zero occupancy was witnessed at several places as people had no interest to listen to their political representatives. With problems like unchecked price rise of essential commodities and loss of jobs looming large, the common man has little to cheer about as people looked for solutions of their day-to-day perils. Politicians are, however, a class apart and the common man’s problems are not so common for them, especially when the next polls are three years away.