Despite the PM’s warning to Yogi and Maurya, the two are still at loggerheads. Prior to the UP visit of BJP president Amit Shah on Aprl 11, UP BJP spokesperson Deepti Bharadwaj tweeted against own party. In a matter of time, the Yogi-camp too took onto Twitter and declared a ‘tweet-war’. Tweets started flooding in, taunting that ‘rapist’ MLAs are being sheltered under a powerful minister. The indication was clear that who that ‘powerful’ minister was. Deepti Bharadwaj sure is a Sangh leader but her friendship with Keshav Prasad Maurya is no new information. Going by the sources, Maurya still feels that Yogi and his failing administration were behind the Phulpur loss, while on the other hand, Yogi thinks that Maurya is preparing the battlefield against him. It is believed that the ‘wise monkey’ in this ‘cat-fight’ is the other deputy CM Dinesh Sharma, who is said to mark his presence in the court of every big leader but it is unclear as to whose real confidante he is. Simultaneously, when Amit Sasha reached Lucknow, he held a 7-hour marathon meet with CM Yogi. If sources are to believed, Shah has clearly warned Yogi to clear the air in UP before the Karnataka polls or else be prepared for the consequences. Anyhow, Dattatreya Hosabale and Krishna Gopal have returned to Nagpur after their two-day stay in Lucknow, and submitted a detailed report to Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat, alerting that the anti-Dalit image that is emerging of BJP in UP, it is not good for the political health of RSS.

The Centre has set its eye on the newly warming relation of ‘Bua-Bhatija’. The Nizam of Delhi is well aware of how one mention of CBI scares the bejesus out of Mulayam Singh, aka ‘Netaji’. A similar phobia haunts Mayawati, too. So it is anticipated that as soon as the waves of General Elections 2018 will reach their highest tide, the ‘tax-evasion’ wild card will come into play. Those who believe that CBI has filed its final report on Mulayam Singh’s tax-evasion case, are hugely mistaken. A mere statement was issued by the then CBI chief Ranjit Kumar that the final report has been prepared but in reality, this report was never handed-over. Anyhow, various such cases yet rest pending in the offices of CBI and ED.

Although Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan is seemingly at the forefront of worshiping saints, but the true mantra of the ‘sadhu-connect’ lies with our PM Modi. Sources say that once in a blue moon it so happens that the PM is not in acquaintance with a ‘sadhu’. Highly placed sources tell that the PM chit-chats with at least 2-3 ‘sadhus’ on a daily basis. Many a times the conversation is done through video-conferencing. And if a sadhu-saint is expected to gather crowd of 20,000, then the PM accordingly venues his events nearby.

In the recent past, Railways’ former public relations officer Anil Saxena was transferred to Kolkata. Saxena is currently an officer in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and his transfer orders had come from the ministry itself. Saxena is well in terms with a few Railways beat journalists and was available for them 24*7. Henceforth, many journalists urged Railways Minister Piyush Goyal to help Saxena in getting a relief from this order as his retirement is due in a year’s time now. It is said that to this Piyush Goyal replied – “Had it been some other ministry, I would have accepted the requested.” The journalists were also left with nothing more to hear.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had proposed to grant a separate religion status to the Lingayat of the state, and now this very move is proving to be the master stroke because now 70 organisations of Lingayats have written a letter to Modi and Shah, urging them to immediately accept this proposal of Siddaramaiah and have given them a deadline to consider it as early as Wednesday. They have also threatened that if this proposal is not accepted by this Wednesday, the Lingayat vote bank will shift to Congress in the upcoming elections. At the same time BJP argues that Basavanna (12th century Lingayat philosopher) was a follower of Hinduism, but the organisations are not ready for it.

One can consider the current time as the Golden Age of the pro-Hindu organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Its shine is so bright that it is widespread till cloud nine and whoever, whenever comes in its touch, is painted in saffron, at least for while. So after waving the saffron flag on all the fronts, the news around the corner is that a mega Rs 100 crore budget film is on the cards storylining the journey of RSS. The word is that the RSS spearheads were so impressed by the blockbuster success of Bahubali on Box Office that they have contacted Bahubali’s famed-director SS Rajamouli’s father V Vijayendra Prasad.
Vijayendra Prasad is a veteran film screenwriter and director who is famous for his works in hit films like ‘Bahubali’ and ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’. In 2011, Prasad had directed a popular Telugu movie ‘Rajanna’ which was honoured with Nandi Award for Best Feature Film. Prasad started his film career in 1988 and till now he has penned more than 25 films, most of which were super-duper hits.
Sources reveal that Prasad’s film will bring out a new side to RSS in which the Sangh’s ideology, belief, mission and achievements will be screened. In this film, inspirational stories from the life of Dr Hedgewar, MS Golwalkar, Veer Savarkar, and Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat will be spun together and given a new shape for the new generation to inspire from it. Sources say that Prasad has had many meeting in Nagpur with regard to the movie. Actors like Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgan are also said to be ready to take part in this project. The original film will be produced in Hindi and it will be dubbed in regional languages such as Telugu and Kannada. Preparations are skyrocket in a bid to release this movie pan-India before the general elections in 2019.

The long jam-packed doors have finally opened and the smell of fresh air now fills the void. The Sangh and its spearheads are now well-aware that to mingle with the youth of the nation, the ideologies and dialogues will have to be fabricated in a new fashion. Perhaps, this is the reason why in the past few years, the Sangh has opened its doors for cinema, music and theater.
In the recent past, taking inspiration from the Sangh, two such film festivals were organised where the Indian culture in its latest fashion was showcased through the movies. This initiative was just the beginning of measuring the height of cinematic influence.
Sources reveal that now there is a flood of film festivals coming across the country, inspired by saffron ideals, and many big filmmakers, actors and financiers are ready to flow in the currents of this saffron tsunami.
Last year, the Sangh had given a green signal to one such project on an experimental basis. The name of that film was ‘Ek Thi Rani Aisi Bhi.’ The film was directed by Gul Bahar Singh and Hema Malini played the character of late BJP leader Vijaya Raje Scindia. Needless to mention that this film was a biopic made on ‘Rajmata’ Scindia. The credit for writing this film goes to the current Governor of Goa, Mridula Sinha, who had penned the novel ‘Rajpath Se Lokpath Par’ spinning around the various colours of Rajmata’s life. The script of the film was written on the basis of this very novel. Stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgan, Kangna Ranaut, Preity Zinta and Arjun Rampal, singers like Sonu Nigam and Abhijit, and directors like Subhash Ghai and Madhur Bhandarkar are all eyes to be a part of this saffron wave.

Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal’s hopes are right on the track. Of late, he is counted among the close aides of BJP president Amit Shah. So, stunned by the results of UP by-polls, BJP handed over the responsibility of re-blooming its withered ‘lotus’ to Goyal and thus he spent a fortnight in Lucknow prior to the recently conducted UP Rajya Sabha polls.
In a bid to make the Opposition taste the dirt, a strategic planning was done. First of all, saffron candidates were enlisted in the order of preference, Arun Jaitley being at the top of the list. Instead of 37, a bouquet of total 39 senior BJP MLAs was prepped. The responsibility of decorating this bouquet was handed over to minister Satish Mahana. Similarly, the responsibility of keeping an eye on the groups of the 39-39 MLAs was handed over to another minister. Prior to the final voting, a ‘mock drill’ was conducted for the MLAs. The first-term NDA MLAs were given special training on how to cast their vote and this important responsibility was shouldered by Piyush Goyal himself.
Goyal has now also mastered the art of Vote Management. Apparently, ensuring the victory of Anil Agarwal was a risky business. He needed 14 votes of Second Preference. BJP had only 12 votes left on its own. When the results came out, Agarwal got 4 votes from independents and other upper caste MLAs, and this way Agarwal secured the win as well as Piyush Goyal proved himself as a newly emerged strategist.

Enthused over giving a new face to the Third Front, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had visited Delhi in recent past. She had to meet NCP leader Sharad Pawar. Everything was scheduled when, at the very last moment, Congress’ senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad arrived unannounced at the NCP leader’s office. Sources say that Azad urged Pawar to make sure that Mamata ‘Didi’ mustn’t give any such post-meeting statements in the media that it seems like the Congress is left out from this initiative of the oppositions. After getting the consent of Pawar, Azad left from there. Then Didi arrived Pawar’s office, and God knows what did this master of politics explained to Mamata that later in the evening she said, “We will fight together.” After this, Didi rung-up Sonia, fixed up a meeting and happily went on to meet her.

There is a curiosity over what was it that Congress’ K C Venugopal said to the AIADMK leaders which triggered a physical fight in the Lok Sabha on last Tuesday. So what happened was, when Speaker Sumitra Mahajan suspended the House on misconduct by AIADMK members, MPs started walking out one by one. At the same time, Venugopal, who was being seated behind Sonia Gandhi, allegedly told something to the AIADMK MPs in Tamil that they flared up and all hell broke loose. Thankfully, understanding the repercussions of this, Sonia stood up immediately and managed to stop the AIADMK MPs. As soon as the young Congress leaders saw the situation, they ran straight up to Venugopal and gathered around him. Since the House had already been adjourned by then, the press gallery was also empty. Incidentally, a North Indian journalist was present at the spot and witnessed the entire incident. He tried knowing from the Congress MPs that after all what was it exactly that Venugopal had said which lead to such rage? To this, the reply came – “When you cannot report it, what will you do by knowing that Tamil word?” And with this, the matter was buried into the ground.