Seven months after becoming the BJP president, Nitin Nabin announced his team on Monday. The team is not new. It is a mix of old, experienced leaders and youths. The most experienced member of this team is Vasundhara Raje Scindia, who has been twice chief minister of Rajasthan. She is an old hand at fighting electoral battles. The second most experienced member is Union Minister Piyush Goyal, who has returned as party treasurer after a gap of 12 years. The role of a treasurer during elections is considered crucial.
There are three indicators: One, the new team has been formed keeping in view the elections that will take place in the next three years. Two, leaders like Sunil Bansal, Biplab Deb and Vinod Tawade, who were the key forces behind recent state election victories, have been given key responsibilities on a national level. Three, the party’s social media cell has undergone a complete revamp. Experts in new age social influencing have been given tasks. Nowadays, battles begin on social media much before the actual poll battles begin.
BJP was lagging behind in social media battles. Newcomers from Congress party like Anil Antony, Rohan Gupta, Manpreet Singh Badal, and Sandeep Pathak from Aam Aadmi Party have been given posts. The message has gone that the doors of BJP are never kept closed for those who join from other parties. This time, youths and women have been given more responsibilities in the party. The focus of Modi’s government has been on women and youths for the last 12 years. We are seeing the reflection of this in the new party set-up.
Dimaagi Naxals : We won’t allow them to turn cities into jungles
Senior Congress leader and former Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Monday tweeted, “I am proud to be a dimaagi naxal!”. Jammu and Kashmir former CM Mehbooba Mufti tweeted: “I support Article 370. I am a dimaagi naxal”. Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal tweeted: “ Yes, I am a dimaagi naxal because I am a patriot. I am proud of it.” More opposition leaders have started using ‘dimagi naxal’ as a badge of honour and trying to corner Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In his Independence Day speech from Red Fort, Modi had mentioned ‘dimaagi naxal’. He was referring to the end of Maoist armed struggle. Modi said, “there are some ‘dimaagi naxals’ who are trying to push the country into anarchy. They are looking for the right moment. Beware of such dimaagi naxals.”
There is a difference between urban naxals and jungle naxals. The naxals in forests use guns, bombs to spready anarchy, while the urban naxals use modern tools to foment violence. The jungle naxals tried to overthrow government by guns instead of ballots, but failed. The dimaagi naxals are dreaming of overthrowing the government by resorting to street violence instead of EVMs. Dimaagi Naxals think they have the licence to demean anybody in the name of disagreement. By using the Constitution, they try to discredit institutions like Parliament, judiciary, election commission and media. In fact, such dimaagi naxals never respect others. They try to tarnish the image of the person who is considered a hero by society. Many such elements have infiltrated political parties. All parties should keep a watch on such people. We cannot allow dimaagi naxals to turn our cities into jungles.
Why ‘Vande Mataram’ full version made Sonia uncomfortable?
Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi may face problems for allegedly insulting the national song ‘Vande Mataram’ which was being played at the Congress party headquarters on Independence Day. Police complaints have been filed in Delhi, Bhubaneswar, Mangaluru and Mumbai against both Sonia Gandhi and her son. On August 15, while Independence Day was being celebrated at Congress headquarters, ‘vande mataram’ in full was being played. Sonia Gandhi was seen gesticulating to people and trying to stop the play of the song midway.
Rahul Gandhi was also seen saying something. When videos of this incident went viral, BJP leaders targeted both Sonia and Rahul alleging that they had insulted ‘Vande Mataram’ song. Home Minister Amit Shah demanded apology from Sonia Gandhi. Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh said, Sonia Gandhi was asking somebody to provide chair to Mallikarjun Kharge who was standing near her. Gandhi family has made two mistakes within a week. ‘ Earlier, Rahul Gandhi had, on stage, mimicked Prime Minister Modi hugging world statesmen, and in the process, mention was made of Italian PM Georgia Meloni. No PR agency can carry out damage control for such antics.
The second mistake was done by Sonia Gandhi when she intervened when the fourth stanza of ‘Vande Mataram’ was being played. Goddess Durga was being mentioned in this stanza. She lost her cool and gestured to people to stop playing the national song. This has damaged her carefully cultivated image. Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera tried to cover it up but they made a mess of things. Some leaders said, Sonia was asking for a chair for Kharge. Some quoted Rabindranath Tagore to say that Congressmen will sing only the first two stanzas of ‘Vande Mataram’. These are lame excuses. I was surprised because Sonia Gandhi, in and out of power, never lost her cool and dignified grace. Why did Vande Mataram make Sonia Gandhi worried? It is difficult to understand.