Without a clear cut central authority, open warfare has broken out in some state units of Congress

Out in the open

The secret understanding between Shivpal Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav’s estranged uncle, and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was out in the open last week. When Adityanath called on Mulayam Singh Yadav at his residence to inquire about his health, his brother Shivpal turned up at exactly the same time. Photographers got a shot of the CM with Mulayam, Akhilesh and Shivpal which was flashed in the media. Akhilesh, clearly unhappy, re-tweeted the photograph, cutting Shivpal out of the frame. Even after the bitter elections, with Shivpal’s party eating into the SP vote bank, Mulayam still hopes for a family patch-up. He summoned all family members including Shivpal and Ram Gopal, to his home at Saifai after the poll. But a truce remains elusive.

Soldier of fortune

Danish Ali’s longtime boss H D Deve Gowda lost the parliamentary election in Karnataka and the JD(U), of which till recently Danish was a general secretary, is down in the dumps. But the fortunes of Gowda’s one time Man Friday in Delhi, who fought this election on a BSP ticket from Amroha, are on a roll. Ali won from Amroha and Mayawati appointed the newcomer as both leader and chief whip of her 10-member Lok Sabha parliamentary group. Ali was selected partly because Mayawati is keen to showcase a Muslim face as she believes her best prospects are in the Western UP Muslim dominated belt. Her longtime Muslim adviser Naseemuddin Siddiqui was thrown out of the party last year over a money dispute and his replacements, Munquad Ali and Mohammad Jamil Akhtar, have been found wanting. Danish has handled financial affairs for Deve Gowda’s family in Delhi for years and Behenji feels his talents could be useful to her.

Uncalled-for snub

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra could have been more gracious while addressing workers in Sonia Gandhi’s Rae Bareli constituency, the only seat won by the Congress in UP. Priyanka complained that the victory margin had come down and lashed out at Congress workers for not doing their bit. If party workers in Rae Bareli and Amethi have lost some of their enthusiasm, it is because there has been little support from Delhi. There are frequent changes in people entrusted to look after the Gandhis’ one-time pocket boroughs. For instance, Dhiraj Srivastava, who formerly worked in the Rajasthan government, was asked to oversee the Amethi constituency only four months back. In Indira and Rajiv Gandhi’s time, there was a dedicated team, which knew the people in the constituency personally and ensured that they got special benefits including government jobs in Delhi and VIP treatment when they visited the Capital.

This article first appeared in the June 16, 2019 print edition under the title ‘Inside Track: Left alone’