 | | PICTURE SPEAK | |  | | CALLING THE SHOTS: Sonia with the Congress chief ministers | | B.S. Hooda
HARYANA Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is caught between the machinations of the Opposition Indian National Lok Dal and sniping from within. In the 16 months since Hooda outsmarted the wily state Congress chief Bhajan Lal in the race for the top post, Lal's younger son Kuldeep Bishnoi, MP from Bhiwani, has emerged as the most vocal-and vicious-critic of the chief minister's style of functioning. While a sulking Lal and his elder son, deputy chief minister Chander Mohan, maintain a studied silence, Bishnoi has not missed any opportunity to attack Hooda, accusing him of "poor governance and letting the people down". What upped the ante recently was Bishnoi's strident opposition to the Hooda government's decision to transfer about 1,350 acres of land to Reliance India Limited (RIL) for a mega Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Dubbing it dubious and a fraud on farmers whose land had been acquired at cheap rates, Bishnoi even petitioned Sonia to intervene. The move backfired. Hooda was quick to approach the high command to rein in Bishnoi, alleging that his anti-government stance had Lal's tacit blessing. In response, the central leadership slapped a showcause notice on Bishnoi to explain his remarks in 15 days. A defiant Bishnoi shot off a reply in four days saying it is his "duty to protect the interests of the state". Ignoring Bishnoi's rantings, Hooda inked a joint venture with the Mukesh Ambani-led RIL. Smarting under the snub, the MP has now threatened to launch an agitation. Meanwhile, Lal hasn't given up on his ambition to topple Hooda and has been encouraging his supporters, who were denied positions in the recent PCC shuffle, to join the BJP. Lal was also allegedly approached by the BJP to head its state unit. With the Congress brass supporting Hooda to the hilt, political observers say Lal's future looks bleak and he may break away and float a regional party. But, for now, Hooda is firmly in the saddle.
-Ramesh Vinayak
V. Deshmukh
MAHARASHTRA | | PICTURE SPEAK | |  | | TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT: Rane (left) with Deshmukh | | Slugfests between Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and Revenue Minister Narayan Rane have become the butt of political jokes. The latter, very evidently vying for the chief minister's chair, has put Deshmukh on guard. Ever since Rane quit the Shiv Sena in July 2005, he has proved his mettle by first getting elected to the Assembly and later securing the number one slot in state politics for the Congress. Prior to Rane's arrival, the Congress had been struggling against the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) that had been flaunting its superiority as the single largest party with 71 seats. Rane upset its applecart by raising the number of Congress seats to 73. Rane's rise poses a threat to Deshmukh. "Not only is Rane an ex-chief minister, he has also managed victories for the party in the recent MLC elections," says a Congress leader. During the MLC elections, the Congress and NCP alliance could have won seven seats. It was decided that the NCP would get four seats and the Congress, three, along with a Rajya Sabha nomination. However, Rane reneged on the deal and fielded a fourth Congress candidate. Deshmukh was not game to Rane's caper but AICC general secretary Margaret Alva backed the latter. As the emerging scenario suggests, dissidence between the Rane and Deshmukh camps is more of a power play rather than issue-based disagreements. Although Sonia had herself replaced Sushil Kumar Shinde with Deshmukh, both Alva and PCC chief Prabha Rau have now sidelined him and many leaders are KOW-towing to the revenue minister. Bolstered by the support, Rane is now busy expanding his administrative powers. While he concentrates on keeping the party high command happy, Deshmukh is reduced to issuing statements to the media proclaiming his hold over the chief ministerial position. Besides securing control over the Konkan region for the Congress, Rane has also imbued the party with some much-needed aggression against the dominating NCP. "Rane is also known for his easy access to 10, Janpath, while most ministers have to wait in a queue," says a Congress leader. Never given free reins over the party in the state, Deshmukh seems to be running out of steam in this race. -Prerana Thakurdesai Sheila Dikshit
DELHI | | PICTURE SPEAK | |  | | RUFFLING FEATHERS: Dikshit (right) at a party meet | | It is not so much the opposition outside as the bickering within that has kept Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit busy ever since she took office for a second term in December 2003. Strangely, despite having won the capital city for a second time running, Dikshit was not immediately declared chief minister by Sonia. Instead, she was kept on tenterhooks for two whole days before the 47 Congress MLAs were finally allowed to elect her as the leader. But there is a method to this madness. Dikshit is one of the few state leaders with mass appeal and an identity of her own. The Delhi Assembly polls were fought and won solely on her performance ratings. In the Gandhi-Nehru dynasty-oriented Congress this is not necessarily a good thing. To keep Dikshit in check, PCC chief Ram Babu Sharma periodically stages virulent outbursts with the tacit backing of Ashok Gehlot, the general secretary in charge of Delhi. Local stalwart Jagdish Tytler, who had to forfeit his Union Cabinet berth after his role in the 1984 riots came to light, is also propping up the anti-chief minister faction as he blames Dikshit for his misfortunes. What works for the chief minister is a direct equation with Sonia, though of late the link has weakened somewhat. Matters came to a head last year when she walked out of a state executive that was packed more with her opponents than executive members. She was then facing severe censure from dissidents for having hiked power tariffs and granted subsidies to private power companies. Interestingly, one of her chief baiters, Ajay Maken, was rewarded with a portfolio in the Union Cabinet soon after he raised the banner of revolt. An year later, Dikshit admits that walking out of the party meeting may not have been the most diplomatic of decisions. "Perhaps I was weak. Many have told me I did not do the right thing. But these things are not permanently relevant," she told India Today. A telling point is the continuation of her bete noire as the PCC chief. Sharma's grouse is that the chief minister does not take the party into confidence. Dikshit, on her part, does not trust the PCC chief and accuses him of being more of a hindrance than a help. Recently, the two disagreed about a proposed split in the state's municipal corporation. Of late, however, things are somewhat peaceful as Dikshit has worked out a strategic truce with Gehlot and his mentor, Ahmed Patel. -Priya Sahgal Amarinder Singh
PUNJAB | | PICTURE SPEAK | |  | | FRIENDS, NOT BY CHOICE: Dullo (left) with Amarinder | | The Congress in Punjab exhibits an uncanny knack of relapsing into seasonal bouts of dissidence. The only difference this time around is the party high command's harsh stance against the rebels, who now find themselves at the receiving end of its ire for sniping publicly at Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and state Congress chief Shamsher Singh Dullo. However, so far those on the firing line are largely lightweight leaders, not aligned with any major faction of the ruling party-a clear strategy to check factional infighting ahead of the Assembly elections in February. A week after a motley group of second-rung Congress leaders owing allegiance to stormy petrel and CWC member Jagmeet Brar orchestrated a public spectacle at the AICC headquarters, demanding a change of guard in Punjab before the elections, the party turned the heat on the dissidents. The first to get the rap was Malkiat Singh Birmi, a Ludhiana mla who had blatantly accused Dullo of accumulating money from his constituency. Doing away with the practice of serving showcause notices, the chief minister sacked Birmi as chief parliamentary secretary. A day later, Dullo suspended Brar's brother Ripujit Singh from the party's primary membership. Last month, Dullo had packed off three of Brar's supporters-who have been sidelined in the latest PCC shuffle-and issued showcause notices to three pro-Amarinder ministers for engaging in a verbal duel over RIL's Rs 3,000-crore project. Though not on the best of terms, Amarinder and Dullo have joined hands to nip the latest bout of dissidence. Both are gunning for Brar, with Amarinder pressing the high command to rein him in or risk electoral damage. "The infighting can harm us more than anti-incumbency" says Dullo. To Amarinder's relief, detractor-in-chief Deputy Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, has been lying low, having reconciled to playing second fiddle. -Ramesh Vinayak N.D. Tewari
UTTARANCHAL "The problem with Chief Minister Narain Dutt Tewari is that he is too big for a small state like Uttaranchal," observed a senior minister of the Congress government in the hilly state where factional fights within the party often spill onto the streets. The Uttaranchal PCC is not satisfied with the functioning of the Tewari government, particularly irked by its failure to ensure employment to the local people. "In the name of employment, Tewari has appointed more than 50 chairpersons in different corporations, giving them ministerial ranks irrespective of whether they belong to the Congress or other political parties," says one supporter of PCC chief Harish Rawat, who had raised the matter before Sonia in Delhi. But Tewari escaped unscathed. A few months ago, the chief minister faced an open rebellion when more than two dozen party MLAs launched a signature campaign demanding his removal. But given Tewari's towering persona in the Congress, none dared disturb him. Last week, he met Sonia in Delhi but she reportedly declined to bring him to Delhi. Undeterred by the party's obvious reluctance to bring him to book, Tewari baiters within the Congress cite the Rs 13,000-crore debt burden on Uttaranchal that is yet to complete six years of life to strengthen their case. Amid such allegations, Tewari publicly announced his plans to quit the job, but was forced to postpone his decision after the party leadership refused to rehabilitate him in Delhi. Tewari's ties with Sonia are reported to be somewhat frayed, which perhaps explains why he has neither been included in the party's high-powered committees nor accommodated at the Centre. Even at the last AICC session Tewari stayed in Dehradun on the pretext of ill health. The apparent friction further emboldens his detractors. -Subhash Mishra Ghulam Nabi
JAMMU & KASHMIR  No Congress chief minister in the country can perhaps boast of a greater rapport with party colleagues and the Opposition than Ghulam Nabi Azad. The Jammu and Kashmir chief minister's troubles lie elsewhere: heightened high-profile strikes by militants and separatist activities. Holding the reins of a multiparty alliance, in which the Congress has 20 MLAs, Azad enjoys the support of another 16 from the People's Democratic Party, 12 Independents, four Panther's Party legislators and two CPI(M) MLAs. To top it all, the National Conference on the Opposition benches regards him as more of a friend than his predecessor, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, whom it considers its sworn enemy.
Political pundits say local party leaders fully realise they stand no chance of being heard if they antagonise Azad. "Power in the Congress comes from top and dissidence flourishes only if there are buyers in Delhi. As for Azad, he is a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family sent to Kashmir," says an analyst. The sole irritant for Azad is, therefore, the security situation in the state. A strategy to curb violence and usher in development and progress holds the key to his future. -Aijaz Hussain |
