Is the Congress fated to be ruled by women, after Indira Gandhi? First there was Indira, then came, by default, Sonia, and going by the latest developments, it seems Priyanka is the commandant.
She seems to be shaping a new avatar of Rahul Gandhi…. Those who heard Rahul at the Jan Vedana Rally at the Talkatora Stadium on January 11, say he was indeed in a new and confident form, gunning for PM Modi directly and unapologetically.
But Congress sources reveal that behind this change is Priyanka. They say that when the preparations for the rally were being finalised on the night of January 10, and Ahmed Patel was handling things at the stadium till about midnight, suddenly Priyanka swept down to the spot. There, till 2.30 am, she was finalising the Congress’ strategy, and detailed what Rahul should say – and should not – as well as to what extent, as diktated by Priyanka.
It may be that for Team Rahul these days, the suggestions of strategy-master Prashant Kishor has become passé, but insiders coo that Priyanka takes the latter seriously and listens to all he says.
It is learnt that due to the continued illness of mom Sonia, Priyanka now has her lunch every day with the latter, discusses strategy, and reaches Sonia’s missives to the party and Rahul directly. Priyanka also makes it a point to attend every important meeting of the higher echelons of the party, whether it befor the poll strategy in Punjab or the selection of candidates for the UP elections.
Rahul was supposed to visit China, come February, where he was scheduled not only to attend government meetings but also to speak at important lectures. But Priyanka intervened and the trip was scuttled: Officially, Rahul’s request to China was that he needs to work for the party’s polls in five states, so could his trip be advanced, please? It must be said, though, that China has nodded ‘Yes’ to Rahul’s request.
So it is evident that Priyanka is prominently making her command in Congress clear!

Incumbent president Pranab Mukherjee, when he will no longer be president, is likely to vacate the 285-room Rashtrapati Bhavan, spread over 300 acres of land, and reside for the rest of his life in a government accommodation at 10, Rajaji Marg. The house now carries the name of Union Minister for Culture Mahesh Sharma on the door plaque. But it is learnt that Sharma has been ‘advised’ to look for a new address for himself. Sources say that it was Pranab-da’s express desire to stay put in the Rashtrapati Bhavan complex in one of the four plush bungalows in the compound. But citing protocol factors, he has been told otherwise.
Like former President, late APJ Abdul Kalam, Pranab-da is also known to be an avid reader. Kalam, when he was to demit office, had asked for a house that had a good library. The 11,776 square feet, duplex bungalow at the address on Rajaji Marg meets the request very well. One of the two floors of the house is a well stacked library.
In any case, there are only three such bungalows in Lutyens’ Delhi that fulfill the benchmarks of a home for a retired President of India. Apart from the one on Rajaji Marg, the other two are on 31, Aurangzeb Road and 7, Tughlak Road.
Prior to Kalam shifting in, the bungalow on Rajaji Marg used to be shared by two powerful bureaucrats: former Prasar Bharati CEO BS Lalli and power secretary Anil Razdan.
After Mahesh Sharma vacates the house, Pranab-da will surely redecorate the house to his tastes, but his eyes, and intellect, will be focused on the first floor reading space and library.

It seems BJP is putting up a brave front and is pretty confident of poll gains in UP. The top leadership believes that this time, the lotus will bloom in the state, that too on its own, sans alliances. Naturally, party boss Amit Shah cannot afford to repeat the mistakes made in Bihar. There, the MPs had wantonly distributed tickets to people of their choice.
But this time around, the ticket distribution is a tad tough. Candidates’ names are coming up from the primary level to the District Committee, which are sending them up to the state committee, and finally, the names will be discussed in the core committee. The latter include Sunil Bansal, Dinesh Sharma, Laxmikant Vajpayee, Keshav Prasad Maurya, Om Mathur, and Shiv Prakash. This committee will select one or more names and send it to the Parliamentary Board for finalised. Party sources whisper that after the completion of National Executive meet there will be a Parliamentary Board meeting. The final candidates will be decided and will be declared by the Board.
BJP is quite confident this time as the names of Chief Ministerial candidates have been discussed. Three of them are already off the block: Minister for state Manoj Sinha, BJP State president Keshaw Prasad Maurya and Lucknow Mayor Dinesh Sharma. The latter has been election in charge in Gujarat too, and is among the closest to Amit Shah, so scuttlebutt is he will win the race.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the vote share of BJP in UP was 42.3 per cent. In the 2007 Assembly elections, when Mayawati had emerged with a filibuster majority, BJP’s vote share was 30 per cent. In 2012, SP gained full majority, despite its vote share being just 27.3 per cent. Looking at these figures, BJP war room veterans reckon that the party will come to power even if there is a multi-cornered contest and the party’s vote share drops by eight to 10 per cent in comparison to Lok Sabha elections. Saffron mandarins believe that if BJP can keep its vote share to even 35-36 per cent, it may still bag 250 seats.
Hopes fly on wings, as they say!

In the light of 2017, the new edition of the leading political magazine Parliamentarian has given a pivotal space to both national and international astrologers’ future predictions. One of them is Sanjay Chaudhary (who forecasted on 1 January 2016 that Donald Trump will become President of America), on the basis of India’s horoscope Sanjay opines that Saturn the slow moving and biggest cosmic player will ingress to Sagittarius till 25 January 2020, it will transit over the 8th House of the Natal Horoscope of India. Also the Moon-Rahu Dasha will commence on 31 January 2017 to 2 August 2018. Collectively, the mundane effect will be shrinking of income for the common man. There will be major business failures. This will be a dark period. Sanjay Chaudhary’s prediction on ruling BJP indicates that party may suffer severe setback in the first quarter of the year. Distress within the party members may lead to many of them shifting loyalties. In April 2017, there is possibility of reshuffle in Modi’s cabinet. Several prominent ministers might lose power. Congress will go for successful tie-ups. Demonetization might give several shock waves to country. There is a lurking probability of tensions on border and toughened relations with China. But March to May 2017 is going to see the Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi seriously suffer from health issues.

In the January edition of Parliamentarian Visti Larsen, an astrologer from Denmark has predicted Narendra Modi’s future. According to Larsen, in the upcoming five assembly elections Modi might have to bear the brunt of his policies. This shows that BJP may perform below the expectation in the elections. The after effects of demonetization will be apparent till May 2017. From September 2017 to beginning of 2018 India may have strenuous relations with its neighboring countries China and Pakistan. There is a possibility of small fights too. In Tula Chakra Dasha when the next general election of 2019 will be held Narendra Modi could again be elected to power. Visti Larsen says on Rahul’s future that in 2017 he will rise to highest position in Congress and will likely become its President. The significance and impact of opposition parties will burgeon. Rahul Gandhi may emerge popular; however his own health also becomes focal point as he needs to be more cautious in second half of 2017.
In the same edition of magazine, the prediction of Professor KN Rao is published magnificently that this year can mark the war between three nuclear enrich nations. China may attack India embracing Pakistan. There may be some border issues, In Bangladesh Shiekh Hasina’s moderate government could be replaced and fundamentalist came to power. This might be jeopardy for India. The astrologer Dr. Ajai Bhambi indicates tremendous changes ahead. So the country’s ethos will be tampered with the issues taking centre stage in 2017. Youth will get awakened and some movement like an Anna movement can be seen in 2018. The year 2017 will throw ample challenges to Amit Shah’s leadership.

Since Parasmal Lodha, the Kolkatta businessman- realtor is nabbed by Enforcement Directorate (ED) and other investigation agencies, the audacious political rulers are turning meek. Sources reflect that there is an influx of revelations. After the historic announcement of demonetization on 8 November Lodha travelled almost more than six times in same chartered plane that is meant for Chief Minister, that too with (same) famous industrialist. This was transpired by the roster of this plane. It is said that the diary that has been seized from Lodha has names of several famous personalities. From the son of a leader of ruling party to several others flabbergasting details, this, however, proves that Lodha was all set to turn his black money into white. The digital diary of the who’s who of the political world consist name of former Chief Justice of Supreme Court.
Obtrusively, one of the prominent industrialist’s name from the field of communication and oil is also mentioned in the diary. His name also appeared in 2G scam. Sources say that this diary has a name of Vijay Singh Dogra who was associated with Sahara Chief. Dogra was also caught in London Chelsea ATM with the big amount. Since then he is on the wanted list. The Dogra’s diary has been used by Rahul and Kejriwal to flak the Prime Minister. The Kolkata businessman was arrested in connection with the recovery of plenty of new currency notes from a Delhi Law firm belonging to advocate Rohit Tandon and Chennai businessman Shekhar Reddy. It has been said that Lodha has much such shocking information that can bring political turmoil. But it doesn’t seem that government will take this too far to dig up the dirt as it might spoil their own hands.

The saffron leaders who like to celebrate their New Year in foreign destination got a message from PMO that all the Ministers of Union Government will celebrate New Year with simplicity. It is said that the PM’s order made several leaders to cancel their tickets. The leader like Nitin Gadkari also changed their mood and plan. Gadkari will celebrate his new year in Nagpur, in the same wake, Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi will celebrate this new year in Goa. According to sources, he has organised a new year celebration party on 30- 31 December in North Goa’s Panjim’s Grand Hyatt Hotel. Many high profile guests are going to attend the grand celebration. Ironically, the Hotel belongs to Shahid Balwa alleged for Coalgate and 2G scam. Indeed everyone knows that he has been presenting the case in court.

Some earlier decisions of the Modi government might take a new shape. It is said that Modi had assured the ultra-active Subramanian Swamy a post I his cabinet. But time went by and there was no sign of that. It is now being said that during a crucial meeting with the PM, the reckless Swamy was given a key assignment. He is to remove the stress that has developed between the Modi sarkar and the top judiciary. It is already well known that the PM is peeved with the incumbent Attorney General. And the name of a prospective new AG, supposed to a key Amit Shah man, has been more or less finalised. It is a matter of time before the old one is shown the door and Shah’s man ushered in. Swamy has now been tasked with opening up a conversation with the top judges. The tenure of the present chief justice of the apex court, Justice TS Thakur, ends on January 3, and Justice Kehar is slated to take over from him. Sources say that the new czar is close to former law minister Hansraj Bharadwaj, who in turn is famously friendly with Swamy. So the latter can trust Bhardwaj to create a win the confidence of Justice Kehar. As it stands, due to this tiff between the judiciary and the executive, all seven appointments of judges in the top body remains stalled. The numbers of high court vacancies are 50. If Swamy is able to break this impasse, one can hope to see him as the next law minister.

After the successful kidney transplantation, the ailing Sushma Swaraj seems poised for a major role to play in politics, possibly a Constitutional post. Modi wants this. And scuttlebutt is that two key RSS players, Bhaiyaji Joshi and Dattatreya Hosbole are strongly pitching in to anoint as the next President of the country. Being who they are, it is natural that the RSS top brass is silently siding with them. But there are hiccups. Some sections are pushing current Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan for the slot. On the other hand, southern RSS biggies feel that this around someone from the south should be given the top job. Two names are being touted, but for chief justices. The first is KG Balakrishnan, and the other is Kerala governor P Sadashivam. The Vice President will be any one of these, after the President’s name is finalised. Insiders say that the Sangh feels that in terms of health or tactic and her unique ability to communicate, Swaraj should be the right choice.