#PoliticsPrettySimple: Did BJP have a hand in Congress’ downfall in #Puducherry?

 

Puducherry near Tamil Nadu plunged into political crisis after two exits on February 21. The numbers of the ruling party in the union territory dropped to 12 and 14 is the magic number to retain power. Congress’ V Narayanasamy resigned after losing the trust vote in the assembly, while blaming the BJP, NR Congress and former Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi of conspiring against him.

According to political sources, the political script of Puducherry was ready 24 months ago, much before then Tamil Nadu BJP president Tamilisai Sounderarajan took over as the Governor of Telangana. Dissidence in neighbouring Puducherry was just about raising its ugly head. 

There comes BJP’s playbook, said Mohan Kumaramangalam, working president of the Congress in Tamil Nadu. “Look at this! We saw an overnight transfer of Kiran Bedi with Tamilisai taking over as the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry. We saw her active posts on Tamil Nadu-Puducherry politics, while she was in Telangana. It’s possible that she played a role in plotting against our party,” he said.

Some Congress members in Puducherry, choosing to remain anonymous, said that Narayanasamy failed in fulfilling his promise to accommodate some of the key leaders into the Cabinet. Whether or not BJP sensed this and decided to capitalise on it, the DMK seems to have foreseen the beginning of Congress’ deposition.

“We knew this would happen and we decided to play tough with our ally while we sat on the negotiating table before the election slated for April-May this year. We knew the Congress’ bargaining power would be diminished,” said A Saravanan, DMK spokesperson. 

When Congress came to power in Puducherry in 2016, A Namasivayam was portrayed as the chief ministerial candidate, but Narayanaswamy was placed on the throne in the last minute. It took Namasivayam four years and four months to quit and join the BJP.

Sources say that BJP started with Namasivayam’s shift to finish off Congress. Kiran Bedi’s attempts at throwing a spanner in the works by not meeting Narayanasamy eye-to-eye on many government schemes and projects seamlessly paved the way for dissenters to jump the fence.

Puducherry has been Congress’ stronghold and the Dravidian parties are waiting to grasp this territory. While the DMK is playing hard, the AIADMK and the BJP have forged an alliance with the opposition party NR Congress. The Centre, according to sources, has ensured the party at the helm of affairs loses its opportunity to swing the election in its favour by twisting the arm of the poll machinery.

When Rahul Gandhi visited Puducherry last week, one among the crowd stood up to complain against the government. Narayanasamy covered it up with wrong translation claiming she was praising the government. He was heavily trolled.

The BJP says that party stands vindicated with their consistent charge against the Congress’ governance in Puducherry. “Congress-DMK alliance was a disaster right from the beginning of this term. The alliance and the government collapsed on its own weight. BJP has zero role in in this fiasco. The Congress-DMK government had wasted the entire term without delivering welfare or development to the people of Puducherry. We stand vindicated with our constant charge that the fallen government has never delivered efficient governance to the state in their entire term,” said BJP spokesperson Krishna Saagar Rao.

Has BJP’s operation Kamala defeated the Congress in Puducherry hands down? Will the citizens of this union territory try their hand at letting the saffron allies take over the next term? May will have the answer.

#PoliticsPrettySimple: After #DishRavi’s arrest, familiarise yourself with what’s in the #toolkit

 

What’s this Toolkit case? Why is everyone talking about the arrest of a Bengaluru girl Disha Ravi?

Why is the Opposition slamming Centre claiming India won’t be silenced?

It all started on Feb 3 when Swedish Climate activist Greta Thunberg extended her support to the protesting farmers in India.

She also tweeted a toolkit, which was a document that mentioned two accounts including Fridays For Future, an international movement for raising awareness on climate change.

According to media reports, the document also contained links to a website run by volunteers abroad.

The tweet was deleted and Greta posted an updated toolkit.

Now, what is a toolkit?

It is a document that familiarises people to a pressing situation calling for action through social media. In this case, an analysis of the farmers’ plight, who to tag, hashtags to be used like #StandWithFarmers, etc.

What were the Indian celebs up to?

With international celebs like Rihanna and Greta speaking about Farmers Protests, many Indian celebs from Akshay Kumar to Sachin Tendulkar, spoke about how India must stand united and fight against propaganda, emphasising that external forces must only remain spectators. This however, didn’t go down well with Sachin’s fans in Punjab, who protested claiming the cricketer wasn’t standing for farmers.

Here’s the Delhi Police’s version:

The Delhi Police filed an FIR against the creators of the first toolkit that appeared on social media. They said the action plan in the toolkit predates and provides copycat execution of the Jan 26 violence.

In a covert operation, they arrested Disha Ravi, a key member of Fridays for Future, in Bengaluru on Feb 14. They accused her of being the key conspirator in the document’s dissemination. She is also alleged to be one of the editors of the toolkit.

They have also identified Nikita Jacob and Shantanu as part of the gang that allegedly held a meeting with Poetic Justice Khalistani Foundation.

The opposition leaders and many environmentalists have risen against the Centre’s action of “unprecedented attack on democracy”. Protests are being held too.

Where is Disha Ravi?

The court has granted 5-day custody of Disha to the police.

The question now is whether there was any involvement of a seditious act.

#PoliticsPrettySimple: With a whiff of Sasikala, AIADMK’s two-leaves tremble

 

Why is everyone talking about Sasikala, AIADMK and Tamil Nadu? What’s with politics and election you wonder?

Let me simplify it for you… It’s a simple revenge story of Tamil cinema. Sasikala nominated Edappadi Palaniswamy, the current CM to take over the mantle, before she left for Bengaluru prison. She was convicted in a decade-long Disproportionate Assets case. AIADMK was split into two factions, thanks to O Pannerselvam, who had opposed Sasikala. Palaniswami known as EPS didn’t want to let go of his position. Pannerselvam, known as OPS, didn’t have the wherewithal to float his own party. Thus, OPS and EPS found it best to shake hands and remain friends with Sasikala out of the way.

Like all convicts seeking revenge, Sasikala bid her time in jail. And when she was finally released from jail, she decided to quarantine herself at a resort on the outskirts of Bengaluru as she had tested positive for COVID and was asymptomatic. Her comeback in Chennai has to be a well-thought-out plan anyway, like a typical Rajinikanth entry in films.

However, the teaser too has to make an impact, right? Late Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa’s confidant headed to the resort in a vehicle that waved an AIADMK flag, sending jitters through the spines of OPS and EPS. 

It worsened when Sasikala gathered supporters at the resort who worshipped her at the gate, and embraced Karnataka AIADMK president Yuvaraj into her fold.

The ruling party in Tamil Nadu immediately suspended Yuvaraj.

Here comes the flashback.

Prior to Sasikala’s release from prison, AIADMK and BJP decided to continue their alliance during the upcoming election and EPS insisted that he be made the CM at any cost. BJP had to relent. As news of Sasikala’s release gathered steam, BJP’s Amit Shah suggested that Sasikala’s camp and EPS-OPS camp must join hands to keep opposition DMK at bay during the election. This angered Palaniswami, who walked out in a huff. After all, he didn’t want to be Sasikala’s pawn. 

Let’s also not forget that Sasikala last visited Jayalalithaa Memorial in Chennai before heading to Bengaluru prison.

Cut to present. 

Sasikala is all set to visit Chennai with a grand procession planned on February 8. Plans to hire a helicopter to shower flowers are underway. And the first stop would obviously be the place where this drama first unfolded.

Panneerselvam doesn’t want to lose his telepathic connection with Jayalalithaa at the memorial where he launched his banner of revolt against Sasikala. Thus, OPS and EPS devised an excuse to shut the memorial citing ‘work under progress’.

We have the two gangs ready to battle for Jaya’s legacy. The clash of titans is on. Now that Rajinikanth is out of the political picture, will DMK’s Stalin end up having the last laugh in Tamil Nadu?