New Delhi (TIP)- In the first major blow to the Opposition’s attempts at forging a pan-India anti-BJP alliance, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday, May 11, said his party would go it alone in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. “There is no question of a third front as far as I am concerned. Not now,” Patnaik told the media after having met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss development projects related to the state.
Patnaik, who has been serving as Odisha CM since 2000, making him the longest-serving CM of the state, said his party would not ally with the Opposition for General Election.Patnaik’s remarks came two days after he met his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar, who is currently on a mission to unite non-BJP parties for the 2024 elections, and on a day when Nitish met NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai.Nitish had earlier met Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren to advance an anti-BJP alliance having earlier met Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal.
JD(U) ex-president RCP Singh joins BJP
Former JD-U chief RCP Singh on Thursday joined the BJP and attacked his once political mentor and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, claiming he had allegedly been compromising in his pursuit for power. “Nitish used to say that he was against crime and corruption. Today, he has joined hands with those against whom he once struggled,” said Singh.
Pilot to form own party? Buzz grows amid his ‘padyatra’
Since he went public with accusations that Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government was going soft on alleged corruption during the tenure of former CM Vasundhara Raje, buzz has been growing around whether dissident Congress leader Sachin Pilot was contemplating forming his own party in Rajasthan.
Political circles are rife with talk that the former Deputy CM and a Gehlot bete noire in the Congress’ internal politics could well be testing waters with the five-day ‘padyatra’ (foot march) against “corruption”.
The 125-km ‘Jan Sangharsh Yatra’ from Ajmer to Jaipur is seen as an attempt to mount further pressure on the Congress leadership as it hopes to retain the state in the elections at the end of the year. A month ago, Pilot had defied a warning from the party to hold a daylong fast targeting Gehlot on “inaction” over alleged corruption during the Raje rule. “I am taking out this yatra to raise my voice, to hear your voice, and to become the voice of the people,” Pilot, who was sacked as the state Congress chief in 2020 when he led a revolt against the CM, said at the start of the march. Thousands of party workers followed him as the yatra set off.
Tag: Naveen Patnaik
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After meeting PM, Naveen Patnaik says no possibility of ‘Third Front’
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Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023: Tournament gets underway in Odisha with stunning opening ceremony
Cuttack (TIP)- Men’s Hockey World Cup, 2023 got underway on Wednesday, January 11, evening with a spectacular opening ceremony at the picturesque Barabati Stadium in Cuttack that was witnessed by thousands of hockey lovers in attendance from across the country and abroad. Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, International Hockey Federation president Tayyab Ikram and Hockey India chairman Dilip Tirkey were present at the glittering ceremony to welcome members of all the 16 participating teams. Ikram, in his address, complimented Odisha for hosting the mega event twice consecutively, the last one being in 2018, and called the state the “Land of Hockey”.
Thakur thanked the Odisha government for successfully hosting the event in grandeur and said the enthusiasm of the people of India and the state showed their love for the game.
He said the Centre will always extend support to states for hosting such sporting events. Patnaik said Odisha has long been known for its hospitality and hoped every visitor takes back good memories of their stay in the state. The hour-long opening ceremony was preceded and succeeded by colourful cultural programmes that kept mesmerising the packed audience. The celebration began with a stunning tribal dance art of the state, which was a fusion of at least six local dance forms choreographed by eminent dance guru Aruna Mohanty. Sixteen fan parks were set up at important locations across the city where thousands of hockey lovers and enthusiasts witnessed the opening ceremony on giant screens. Hundreds of singers from Bollywood and local artists sang the Hockey World Cup theme song that was composed by music director Pritam, who also performed on the stage along with some other singers.
The matches will be held at two venues – Birsa Mundra Hockey Stadium in Rourkela and Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar — from January 13 to January 29. While 20 matches will be played at Rourkela, 24 matches, including the final, will be held in Bhubaneswar.
The state government has built a new hockey stadium in Rourkela ahead of the event. Odisha is hosting the international event for the second consecutive time, the previous one having been held in Bhubaneswar in 2018. Source: PTI
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Yatra lends purpose to Rahul’s political journey
In Indian electoral politics, alliances are formed on the basis of strengths rather than weaknesses of the participants. The aura of success surrounding Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Yatra is set to provide him with moral authority to play a pivotal role. In addition, in Sonia Gandhi, Rahul has a reserve bench of sorts; the former party chief can act as a line of communication with many non-NDA allies, including the Left, to keep the mahagathbandhan going.
This year, the Congress faces a litmus test in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. If it can win these states, the grand old party would emerge as a serious challenger for the 2024 General Election.
By Rashid Kidwai There are many quotes that have been attributed to Mahatma Gandhi. In the Congress party office at 24, Akbar Road, one of them reads, “Kabhi kabhi hum apne virodhiyon ke karan aage badhte hain.” (At times, we move ahead due to our opponents). Then there is another one saying, “Pehle woh aap par dhyan nahin denge, phir who aap par hasenge, phir aapse ladengen, aur tab aap jeet jayenge.”(First they would not pay any attention to you, then they would mock you and then they would fight with you. You would win once these stages are completed).
In the context of Rahul Gandhi’s ongoing abstract, yet arduous, Bharat Jodo Yatra, these quotes ring a bell, bringing some relevance and hope for the Congress leader.
There is a broader and growing consensus of sorts among Rahul’s detractors and well-wishers that finally, the Gandhi scion is showing signs of purpose, perseverance and hope in his political journey that began in 2004.
Politically, the yatra may or may not be a game-changer, but it has succeeded in establishing Rahul as a credible politician who can walk the talk, intermingle with the masses and get support from a range of politicians and celebrities — from MK Stalin, Aaditya Thackeray, Supriya Sule and Farooq Abdullah to Raghuram Rajan, AS Dulat, Swara Bhaskar and Kamal Haasan.
More importantly, the BJP’s stringent criticism, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya’s ‘appeal’ to suspend the yatra over Covid concerns, and the outrage over Rahul’s comments on China allegedly entering Indian territory have helped him become a singular dissenting voice.
When the yatra began from Kanyakumari, Rahul’s popularity ratings were at an all-time low. The Congress organization was in a shambles and the leadership issue was far from settled. While the yatra was on the Kerala-Karnataka border, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, at that time tipped to be the next AICC president, stunned friends and foes alike by showing defiance, a throwback to the bygone era of Devaraj Urs, Arjun Singh and other party chief ministers.
But throughout the Congress organizational election process, Rahul stayed away and focused on the yatra. The Assembly polls of Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat offered a mixed bag as the Congress went on to win HP. It was a surprise for those predicting the Congress’ death. The ‘corpse’ is, in fact, very much alive and kicking.
This year, the Congress faces a litmus test in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. If it can win these states, the grand old party would emerge as a serious challenger for the 2024 General Election.
We need to remember that the fortunes of the Congress and other non-BJP parties are closely linked to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls where the non-BJP, non-NDA Opposition and the Congress-UPA partners will have to target the ‘half of half’, i.e. half of the 272 Lok Sabha seats on their own — a challenging but not unmanageable number in the 2024 battle.
There are four crucial states of West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra and Karnataka where the BJP-NDA had done exceedingly well in 2019 but the subsequent political developments have unfolded a new scenario. In West Bengal, for example, the BJP had won 18 Lok Sabha seats out of 42, while in Bihar, the alliance with the JD(U) had resulted in its netting 39 out of 40 parliamentary seats. In Karnataka, the BJP had won 25 out of 28 seats, while in Maharashtra, the alliance with the undivided Shiv Sena had resulted in the NDA allies winning 42 out of 48 seats. Imagine a situation if the BJP’s strength from these four states gets reduced to half. A simple majority of 272 would become a distant dream and prospects of a khichdi government a reality.
The Congress, in order to be a contender, has to win 100 or more Lok Sabha seats from states such as Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and a few others where the grand old party has been in direct contest with the BJP or traditionally has a strong presence.
Next year’s parliamentary polls are set to be contested in contrasting styles. If Team Modi is set to make full use of the Prime Minister’s personal ratings, big-ticket projects, Covid-19 handling in the context of the massive vaccination programme, achievements on the diplomatic front and reliance on emotive issues like the Ram Temple, the Congress and its potential allies are prepared to take the battle to the states where regional players are expected to hold sway.
So, if the parties led by Mamata Banerjee, Nitish Kumar, Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar, MK Stalin, Naveen Patnaik, HD Kumaraswamy, Chandrababu Naidu and Akhilesh Yadav together manage to hold on to a chunk of the parliamentary seats, the Congress has the task of doing well in most of the Hindi-belt states and the Northeast.
In Indian electoral politics, alliances are formed on the basis of strengths rather than weaknesses of the participants. The aura of success surrounding Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Yatra is set to provide him with moral authority to play a pivotal role. In addition, in Sonia Gandhi, Rahul has a reserve bench of sorts; the former party chief can act as a line of communication with many non-NDA allies, including the Left, to keep the mahagathbandhan going.
(Rashid Kidwai is a Senior Journalist and Author)