Madhya Pradesh Political Punch: Inviting Trouble, Leaders Unhappy, Birthday Bash & More

Inviting trouble

A lot of discussion is underway in the ruling party about the reasons behind courting troubles in a case. An FIR has been registered against the state head of the opposition about a video. The FIR delighted the ruling party members so much that they thought they had entrapped the leader. But the politician took advantage of the FIR. Soon after the FIR, he issued a notice, saying he was ready to present himself before the police. What he did was something different.

In front of the police station, where the FIR was lodged, the politician organised a massive rally. He wanted the police to arrest him. Although the opposition leaders are always involved in infighting, they came together on one platform. It was a big rally where the Congress leaders took the state government and a union minister to task. There are murmurs among some politicians of the ruling party that by registering an FIR, the government has opened the door to the opposition to launch an agitation.

Minister up the creek

A minister of MP got angry with the central leadership of the BJP. It was the central leadership that helped the minister to get a berth in the cabinet. Just after becoming a minister, he initially developed good relations with the central leadership. Nevertheless, the senior leaders of the party have been giving him the side-eye in the past few days. There are several complaints about the minister for his involvement in corruption. He committed irregularities in a department functioning under him.

Despite the central leadership’s instructions, the minister is doing offstage deals. There is a complaint about it. After the complaint, the central leadership sought an explanation from the minister. Now, he is trying to meet the BJP leaders, but they are not giving him time. The party has informed the minister that the central leadership is annoyed with him because of his activities. A minister from the state is also sending information about the minister to Delhi. He may lose his ministerial berth in the cabinet reshuffle.

Leaders unhappy

Many senior leaders of the ruling party are unhappy about the visit of the head of the government and the organisation to the house of a former minister. There are reports that the head of the organisation was going to the former minister’s residence immediately after taking over the charge of the party. When the head of government came to know about it, he, too, went there with the party head. Other former ministers also expected the head of state and that of the party organisation to visit their residences. Since it has not happened, they are unhappy. 

Many leaders of the party’s state unit do not like the former minister whom the head of state and that of the party visited. An MLA, close to a union minister, is nursing anger against the former minister. The legislator is upset after the head of state’s visit to the former minister’s residence. There are reports that as the head of the party's visit to the house of the former minister did not receive any positive feedback, he is keeping away from publicity after his visit to any leader. His purpose is to give a wide berth to the anger of other leaders.

Birthday bash

There is a lot of discussion over the birthday of a legislator. He organised a big bash on the day. The celebrations continued throughout the day at the government bungalow allotted to him. Hundreds of people enjoyed the sumptuous food. Many politicians participated in it. Most importantly, the head of state and the head of the party organisation reached the MLA’s house to greet him. Now, the MLA is overjoyed after the visit of the head of state and that of the party to his house. 

The MLA’s supporters have started saying that their leader is going to become a minister. They also say that everybody is ready to make him a minister and that he is set to take oath in the next cabinet reshuffle. But the people in the corridors of power say that the legislator is an expert in changing his boss and that this is the main reason behind his success in politics. However overjoyed he may be on his birthday, missing out on a ministerial berth on a previous occasion still pinches him.

Falling into trap

A minister in the state cabinet entangled the new head of the state in a jam. The party head went to a city to participate in a function held to welcome him. At the event, a minister spoke about Operation Lotus carried out by the BJP five years ago. The minister said that when he and his colleagues had been in Bangalore at the time of joining the BJP, the present head of the organisation had been with him. The then-state party president was asked to do the coordination. Now, everyone is discussing the statement made by the minister.

The statement has forced the party head, who generally avoids any controversy, to reply to questions raised by media. The statement also brought to light the number of politicians the BJP had put on duty to oust the Kamal Nath-led government. There are reports that many leaders of the BJP avoid discussing the incident that took place five years ago. But the issue has become a topic of discussion after the minister’s statement. The other leaders of the party, who also played an important role in Operation Lotus and are not getting importance now, are also relating what they had done during the Congress government’s ouster.

Two gentlemen

The head of state is fond of wildlife. Everyone is aware of it. It is because of his interest in wildlife that the state has set up two new tiger reserves. Besides, a plan is afoot to set up a new sanctuary and expand another. On the contrary, a former head of state seems to be averse to issues related to wildlife.

The leader even tried to stop the plan to set up a tiger reserve near the state capital. Nonetheless, both behave with each other in public so well that there seems to be no animosity between them. Rather than showing anger against each other, they have words of praise for each other in public. Wise men rightly say politics, like cricket, is a gentleman’s game.