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From the India Gate: Priyanka from Wayanad? Night allowance for paid crowd?

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From The India Gate Asianet News Network Political Gossip Episode 19
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First Published Mar 27, 2023, 11:23 AM IST

NIGHT-DUTY ALLOWANCE

This HR jargon seems to have entered the political dictionary as well. Every politician wants to gather a huge crowd to endorse their popularity. The game of crowd-gathering is in full swing as Karnataka goes to the polls.

It is no secret that all parties pay allowance to their respective cadres to parade them at rallies and campaigns. But the rally organisers in Belgaum district were in for a shock. Most senior leaders who tour an area for an election campaign plan many programmes in their itinerary. And if one of the meetings gets delayed, the subsequent rallies also get late.

All plans went haywire in Belgaum as leaders who were supposed to reach the venue in the afternoon did not appear till late evening. And even more shocking was the sight of the 'paid crowd' dispersing with the nightfall as they were paid only a 'day allowance'. Staying back beyond dusk would mean extra money or a night duty allowance.

With local leaders failing to hold the crowd back, empty chairs greeted state leaders. It goes unsaid that the organizers drew flak for this flop show. An immediate decision to pay night duty allowance for future meetings was taken. Long live democracy.

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RAG-PICKERS' VISION

The lure of filthy lucre, literally, seems to have united the ruling and Opposition in Kerala. This column had twice reflected on the role the next of kin of senior Left leaders had in the deal to set up a garbage treatment plant in Brahmapuram in Ernakulam district. 

With the smoke settling down, it seems that the main contract won by the son-in-law of a CPM leader was subcontracted to the son-in-law of a Congress leader with the blessings of the son-in-law of the most prominent CPM leader.

The BJP has demanded a CBI probe into the garbage deal and the part played by the sons-in-law. The cash-for-trash story seems to have many layers like heaps of garbage, with stories of nepotism and corruption being unravelled day after day. The oft-quoted line that one will remain a rag-picker as long as she or he has the vision of a rag-picker has come true in the case of these politicians.

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VIA-NAD

Looks like Kerala's Wayanad Lok Sabha Constituency (represented by former MP Rahul Gandhi) will soon have to be rechristened as Via-Nad. Even before Congress activists in Kerala could fully fathom the legal nuances in the judgment which resulted in the disqualification of Rahul, there have been voices suggesting Priyanka Gandhi Vadra should contest if a bypoll is announced.

Rahul had entered the fray in Wayanad at the last minute after he was sure of losing family-held Amethi. In fact, Congress leader T Siddique had begun campaigning when the Gandhi scion gate-crashed. (The party later fielded Siddique in the Assembly elections, and he won the seat.)

Rahul's entry had, in fact, brought together warring factions within the party. And Priyanka, if fielded in the by-elections, will surely win this pro-Congress seat to enter Lok Sabha to make Wayanad yet another safe seat for the family. This would leave Kerala's Congress activists to fight for the remaining 19 seats. And entering Parliament via Wayanad would become an easy route.

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PARTY TIME 

Political observers in Uttar Pradesh were expecting Akhilesh Yadav to act immediately and show the door to a prominent leader who made controversial remarks about Ramcharitmanas. Ironically, the action was taken only against some people who opposed Netaji, baffling leaders and workers. It seems that silence was a political strategy to woo the votes of backward communities.

Akhilesh seems to have allowed the 'netaji' to go scot-free as part of a design to win over more votes, as the party has already suffered a lot due to over-dependence on the Hindu-Muslim vote banks. Only time will tell whether this strategy will bring the party forward or push it even backwards.

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REAL OPPOSITION

Seeing the lotus in the mud is often defined as an example of optimism. But in Tamil Nadu, the main Opposition party is growing green over it as the BJP is taking an upper arm in leading protests against the Stalin government.

With top BJP leaders claiming that they will rule the state in 2026, the two-leaves party seems more unsettled. This concern was discussed in their executive meeting. To counter this, some of the senior BJP leaders were lured to its fold leading to conflict between the two parties. 

Though a senior BJP leader threatened to break the alliance, his party colleagues preached sense and told him to keep calm. Even national leadership echoed this sentiment and advised him not to be foolhardy when he rushed to Delhi for a solution. With the national leadership refusing to buy his line, this leader had to return waving a white flag.

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HASSAN CHALLENGE

The Hassan constituency has become a bone of contention in the JDS camp after BJP's Preetham Gowda won from here in the last assembly elections. The JDS wants to reclaim the seat, but the party is struggling to field the right candidate.

Grapevine has it that Swaroop Prakash, a local leader and son of the late MLA HS Prakash, who represented the constituency four times, would be given the ticket. Swaroop has the support of JDS chief H D Kumaraswamy. But H D Revanna, elder son of H D Deve Gowda, is in favour of fielding his wife Bhavani.

The ball is now in Deve Gowda's court, and his blessings will definitely decide who gets the chance. Sources close to Deve Gowda said that he is in favour of Swaroop over his daughter-in-law Bhavani. And there is a reason behind it.

It is the Hassan constituency that elected him in 1991 to the parliament. Preferring his daughter-in-law over Swaroop will bring a bad name to him. In that case, the next episodes of the drama will shift to his living room for sure.

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