After former speaker and Parliamentarian Purno Sangma’s death, his family is unable to decide who will contest the elections from the Meghalaya seat vacated by him. Sources say that late Sangma’s wife wants that her daughter Agatha Sangma (who has also won the election from the same seat and been a minister at the Centre during the UPA’s rule) to contest the election from the same seat. On the other hand, Sangma’s newly-formed NPP’s members want Sangma’s son Conrad Sangma to fight the election from the seat; he is also active in state politics at present. The Congress is keeping a keen eye on all developments; if a successor from the Sangma family steps into the election arena on a BJP ticket, the Congress will launch its candidate against the person. If this person from the Sangma family contests election as an independent candidate or under the NCP logo, the Congress might clear his or her way to win the election without a contest. Sources say a few days ago, the prime minister himself called up Sangma’s wife and told him he was worried about the family, and that they should collectively decide who will contest the election between the son and the daughter, so that the BJP can give full support to the person. But the late Sangma’s wife didn’t give any clear answer saying the family was still in shock and they don’t have the mindspace to think about these things.

Is all not well in Akhilesh’s reign in UP? There is speculation aplenty about the seat of power in the state. A marvelous elevated highway is supposed to be built in Mulayam Singh’s home constituency Sefai, for which tenders are being accepted. Sources say at such a time, the district’s executive engineer gets a phone call from state’s roadways minister Shivpal Singh Yadav, who asks him to give the project to his favoured contractor. Soon after, the executive engineer got a call from Mulayam Singh and then the chief minister himself, and each one wants him to give the project to the contractor or builder firm of their choice. The poor executive engineer is caught in the middle, and doesn’t know who to obey and the matter gets hung in the middle. One day when the chief minister got off at Sefai’s helipad, he asked the DM to call the engineer there itself and spoke to him in harsh words. The executive engineer blurted out that chachaji (paternal uncle) wanted the project to go to someone else. If sources are to be believed, this left Akhilesh fuming and he said, “Who is the chief minister – me or chachaji?” After the chief minister left, the executive engineer called all the three contractors referred to by the father, son and the uncle, folded his hands and told them, “Friends, please divide the work among each other and get me out of this tight spot.” The contractors complied and the engineer got to keep his job.

It is believed that Shiv Prakash, an organization minister from the BJP had a significant role to play in scripting the downfall of Harish Rawat’s government in Uttarakhand. If sources are to be believed, Shiv Prakash, who has been a dedicated Sangh follower, was the link between rebel Congress leaders Harak Singh Rawat and Vijay Bahuguna’s son Saket Bahuguna. It is said that once Operation Harish Rawat got the seal of approval, Shiv Prakash shifted his brother from Moradabad to Dehradoon, who became the centre point for the entire deal. Sources say Shiv Prakash met Amit Shah several times about it. In the beginning Shah was of the opinion that since Assembly elections will be held in just one year in Uttarakhand, bringing down the Rawat government might not send the right message in general. In any case, the BJP seems to be gaining ground in the state. The organization minister assured his party’s president that things will change within six months of Rawat government going. The new government’s pro-people schemes will help when the BJP goes for elections; the logic made sense and Shah agreed.

This checkmate game of Uttarakhand got tangled in fresh issues once BJP President Amit Shah made it clear that if the government is to be formed in Uttarakhand, the chief minister should be from the BJP. Sources say that before this, Shiv Prakash had assured veteran Congress leader Harak Singh that it is he who will become the chief minister. He also promised that all rebel leaders under the leadership of Harak Singh will be made Cabinet ministers, and the BJP will support the government from outside. Source say Shiv Prakash changed after meeting his party president, and said that the newly-formed government will have a chief minister from the BJP, and Harak Singh will be made the deputy chief minister. Congress’ rebel Assembly members were advised that they should form a new party under Harak Singh and merge it with the BJP. Several rebels such as Pranav Singh Champion and Surendra Singhal didn’t like the idea at all. Their logic was that they had won from areas with Muslim majority. Once they merge with the BJP, their own win in the coming elections might be dicey. However, if nothing else, this game plan by the BJP’s new strategist has Harish Rawat stunned.

About one-and-a-half months ago, Punjab Congress head Captain Amrinder Singh submitted a list of 11 Akali/ BJP leaders to party vice-president Rahul Gandhi saying that these are the people who are ready to join the Congress. Rahul Gandhi was busy and he didn’t reply to Captain’s proposal for about a month. A few days ago, Rahul Gandhi’s close confidante called up Captain and said, “Rahul ji has given a green signal to your proposal.” An upset Captain retorted, “Rahul ji took too long to flag the green signal; all these people have joined AAP last week.”

At the BJP’s National Working Committee meeting last week, nearly all speakers sang paeans to Narendra Modi. In Modi’s presence, Central Minister Venkaiah Naidu took the praise for the prime minister to the next level and gave an emotional speech. He called Modi a messiah who is committed to take the country that is plunged in darkness towards light. The speech got a thunderous applause. In such a scenario, the presence of Shatrughan Sinha, who has been speaking against Modi, was rather surprising. But Shot Gun was his usual self, full of airs, and had come much before the meeting started. He was seen meeting BJP leaders with great informality. However, scared of the top BJP leaders, several were seen trying to evade him, and he was heard saying to several that he will catch up with them during the dinner session.

Sarbanand Sonowal, who is the BJP’s candidate for chief minister’s post in Assam, and is a Central minister at present, seems to be having trouble with his Assembly seat from Majuli. It is worth mentioning that Majuli is an island that is in the middle of the Brahmaputra River. According to a report by UNESCO, if the island continues to erode, it could lose its existence one day. What is also troubling is that Sonowal’s name has been mentioned by his political opponents in connection with the deaths of social worker Sanjay Ghosh and student leader Saurav Bora. As it that wasn’t enough, a local satrap Hemant Biswa Sarma, who has recently joined the BJP, doesn’t get along with Sonowal. To add to this, despite all placations, 25 BJP and 14 AGP rebel leaders have joined the election fray as candidates. Sonowal himself is a candidate from Majuli, where he is facing some tough times. As a result, he can’t seem to get out of Majuli to campaign for 87 other BJP candidates. The strategy by his opponents seems to be working.

The Congress and BJP had a bitter struggle regarding Rajya Sabha seats from Punjab. Sensing the footsteps of coming Assembly elections in the state, Congress chief in Punjab Capt Amrinder Singh finalized two names from his side. One of these was of Sunil Jakhar, son of late Balram Jakhar and leader of Congress Assembly in Punjab; and the other was that of famous Punjabi folksinger Hansraj Hans. Because Hansraj Hans is Dalit, Capt thought it will send out a positive signal to the Dalits in the state. Capt took the names to Delhi, met with Sonia Gandhi and even got her support for the same. But Rahul heeded the advice of his core group and changed his mother’s decision by finalizing the names of Bajwa and Dhillon for these two seats. Sources say Amrinder Singh was miffed with this and called 27 of his close MLAs and told them to work against most of the Congress candidates. One Congress MLA let this be known to Sonia Gandhi over the phone; she asked Amrinder Singh to come to Delhi at once and gave him a piece of her mind as well. Sonia said that according to the report that came from Punjab, 80 seats were going to Aam Aadmi Party, and wondered what they could do with the remaining 37 seats. A calmer Amrinder returned to Chandigarh and most Congress candidates got comfortable without any opposition.

It’s not like things were any quieter in the BJP. It is said that to get an upset Navjot Siddhu back into the fold, the prime minister himself took the initiative and asked him to come for a meeting. Siddhu supporters say the PM not only assured Siddhu of a Rajya Sabha seat, but also promised him that he will be made a minister after the party wins. It is being said that Siddhu has announced among his followers that after his Rajya Sabha win, he will organize a rally in Amritsar in support of the BJP, and this will be attended by one lakh people. But when the list came the next day, Siddhu’s name wasn’t there. Sources say now Siddhu is telling his supporters that he has been promised a Rajya Sabha seat from the quota. As for the ministry, who knows it better than the top boss?

Saiyyan bhaye kotwal, to ab dar kahey ka (Why fear when the beloved is in control of law and order). Ever since Lalu Prasad has returned to Bihar, the same-old routine has started once again. The BJP people are calling it Jungleraj Part II; where they are right it that crime and criminals are, once again, acing their game in Bihar. The state is now becoming a safe grazing ground for them. A few days ago, based on reports from investigative agencies, the local police looked something called “Gangs of Banuchhpar”. Based in western Champaran, this is an organized criminal group that was pretty active on social media – it had Facebook pages as well as a WhatsApp group. The Facebook pages had pictures of people with rifles in hand, with the tagline: “If you want to meet god, come to Banuchhpar”. In Bettiah, Bihar Police also tracked down young criminals who had their own WhatsApp groups that were openly using social media to recruit employed youth and expanding their crime networks.