After Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar chose to skip the International Yoga Day celebrations, a pet project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, there is some confusion among the BJP leaders.
Waiting For Signals
WITH BIHAR being one of the important states for the BJP in the 2019 elections, every move by its partners — be it small or big — is being closely watched by the party leadership. So when JD(U)’s national executive — its highest decision making body — meets in Delhi on July 8, the BJP’s top leadership will be assessing messages coming out of the meeting. In the July 8 meeting, the JD(U) is expected to articulate its position on a host of political issues, including seat-sharing and its position in other poll-bound states. After Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar chose to skip the International Yoga Day celebrations, a pet project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, there is some confusion among the BJP leaders. They are looking forward to getting some clear signals from the JD(U) meeting, which would help during BJP chief Amit Shah’s visit to Patna on July 12 to deal with the key ally, BJP leaders say.
Keep Guessing
AS PART of his drive to take state-wise stock of preparations for 2019 elections, BJP president Amit Shah is slated to visit Uttar Pradesh for two days this week. However, all eyes are on party vice-president Om Prakash Mathur, who is the BJP’s central in-charge for the politically crucial state. Mathur has been staying away from the state affairs for the past eight months. Party seniors are keenly watching whether Mathur will be there for the meetings when Shah himself is visiting the state for the 2019 election preparations.
Status Quo
SINCE HIS appointment as the president of Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) in December last year, there have been speculation about the organisational responsibilities of BJP vice-president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe. Given that he has been the BJP’s central party in-charge for poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, the state unit was curious on whether Sahasrabuddhe will be divested of this responsibility. However, it appears the party leadership has indicated to the state unit that Sahasrabuddhe will continue to oversee the party’s organisational work in the state.
Hitting Back
DURING THE Gujarat assembly election campaign, Congress president Rahul Gandhi had mocked at the central government, terming its key initiative — the Goods and Services Tax (GST) — as “Gabbar Singh Tax”. On Sunday, which marked the completion of one year of the GST, the BJP’s Information Technology head, Amit Malviya, used the same “Gabbar” analogy to hail the tax reform. He tweeted: “Look, what Gabbar Singh has to say on GST.” He also posted a 1.58 minute video, where the iconic characters of Gabbar and Samba recreate a scene from Sholay to celebrate the success of GST, terming it as “Good and Simple Tax”.