Justice Ranjan Gogoi’s Supreme Court bench has lashed out at the Centre, asking it why the Lokpal is not being appointed. To that, the Centre’s lawyer responded that since there is no leader of the opposition, the Lokpal could not be appointed. The irate court then asked how come the CBI director has been appointed when that post too needs the consultation with the Leader of the Opposition?

Last week, Lucknow was packed with programmes to celebrate the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar. But of all these, two were of prime significance, one organised by the Yogi government and the other by the Samajwadi Party. Interestingly, most of SP leaders chose to drop their own party’s programme and thronged the official one by Yogi. This means that Yogiji has clearly emerged as the Thakur strongman in the state, much to baffle Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. But the bees and birds suggest that this could also be another ace to floor the Home Minister with.

The unease between giant BJP intellectual Govindacharya and his party continues unabated. A massive crowd had gathered at the Mavalankar Auditorium in New Delhi to observe the thinker philosopher’s 75th birthday last week, which also saw the launch of the Bharat Gaurav Abhiyan. Political observers will not fail to recall that just such a massive crowd had gathered at the same venue in 2001, or sixteen years ago, when Govindacharya had been expelled from the party for his tiff with Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Many big leaders of anti-BJP parties were seen at the celebrations last week, but few from his own ilk. Barring, of course, the unstoppable Subramanian Swamy, who was strutting about fearless of party strictures.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP party president Amit Shah held a critical meeting with the CMs of the 10 states where the party rules. Sources say that there were two issues at hand: taking stock of the functioning of the party in those states and get a feel of what they are doing for the general elections to be held in 2019; and second, discussions on the party’s prospects in those states which are poised for Assembly polls soon. The CMs were also a bit edgy about the fact that Shah had made a dossier each on the functioning of the party in the 10 states, and there was a point-wise discussion on each of them.

The last Sunday meeting of the BJP top brass was uncomfortable for the Jharkhand party mandarins, for one of the major issues discussed on was why BJP lost the Littipara bypoll. For the past 40 years, Littipara has been a Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) stronghold, and the Shah-Modi duo had decided to smash the bastion this time. Modi himself campaigned there and believed his magic would work. To ensure that nothing goes wrong, the saffron brigade had opened its deep pockets, and sources say that some 100,000 mobile handsets had been distributed free. The BJP had ensured that during his visit to the state this time, President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated some major populist programmes of the BJP. Despite all that, the BJP lost the seat by 12,900 votes, a fact that the state chief minister Ragubar Das better be able to justify.

Team Modi has plunged headlong into the events to come two years later, the 2019 general elections. It has actually set up a war room and that has started functioning as well. While top experts are training the party to better handle social media, a ground level survey of every constituency is also being carried out. Also, the party is assessing the genuineness of the popularity of its leaders. Detailed analyses are being done on what the people in each constituency desire and what is the level of activity and popularity of such leaders, whether they have won or lost in the last elections. What is most interesting is that senior journalists are being drafted in the effort and they are being paid hefty sums, that too, in cash. Amidst all the bugle-blowing of a cashless economy, what more could these old fogies want!

The Supreme Court’s orders to launch criminal investigations against a dozen or so, (nearly a dozen leaders will be sued again) and top BJP leaders had smashed the dreams of Lal Krishna Advani, once spoken of as PM-in-waiting and recently, as he was fond of thinking, President-in-waiting. But the Advani camp is not laying down its arms so soon. They are countering by saying that Uma Bharati is also among those named in the case. If she has not resigned her ministerial job on moral grounds, then the same morality applies and Advaniji is just the man of the hour. Now it is Narendra Modi who will have to take a final call.

One of the stalwart political personages of UP, Akhilesh Das is no more. His later father Banarasi Das Gupt had been a former CM of Uttar Pradesh. Hailing from a very rich family in the state, Das had apparently opened his coffers to the Congress in the state during the state polls. He had even met Priyanka Gandhi and had been promised that he would be nominated to the Rajya Sabha from the state this time around. But providence took its call and the Congress was rubbished down to just seven seats in the state polls. That put Akhilesh’s dream under a blanket in this summer heat!

The BJP is sanguine of its bumper win in the Karnataka state polls. This has been supported by the report of the survey agency placed with Amit Shah. The latter apparently had been toying with the idea till not long ago that the party would go to the polls with Yeddyurappa as its face. But after the UP polls set the tone, Shah has decided that even in the southern state, Modi will be the party’s face. And after the expected win, Shah will personally announce the name of the CM, or that is the plan. Meanwhile, HD Deve Gowda’s son HD Revanna is gearing up to change into saffron robes. And it is well known that former Union Foreign Minister of Congress, SM Krishna has already joined the saffronites. What is less known, birds and bees tell us, is that Krishna was compulsed to do this because while he was foreign minister, he had set up many of his relatives and acolytes in businesses on various African countries and this scam was about to be broken by the powers that be currently. So a slithering Krishna joined the Congress’ nemesis.

Minister Manoj Sinha may have lost out in the battle of wits to grab the top job in UP, but he is nowhere near fading into the horizon, no Sir! And how can he, being the darling of all three in the saffron triumvirate… Shah, Modi as well as the RSS? Sources say that a few days ago when the parliament was in session, Sinha had organised a dinner at his official residence. Coincidentally, a karge chunk of the invitees were MPs from the Poorvanchal region, or eastern UP. They all expressed their unanimous sadness at Sinha not having made the UP CM. They said that being such a good man, so well-mannered and one who works for everyone ought to have become the CM, so that even the MPs could benefit. “Now it has become impossible to have word edgewise with Yogi,” the decried. Seeing such a groundswell of support from his fellow MPs, Sinha was excited. He assured them, tactfully: “Don’t worry. I think I will be given a much higher responsibility, in which I can defend all of you.” That was enough for the MPs to realise that in the much awaited Modi Cabinet reshuffle, Sinha has possibly been promised the Defence Ministry. After the dinner, one of the backward caste MPs blipped to his favourite scribe: Sinhaji will become defence minister. The moment Sinha’s PS got the grapevine, he summoned the MP and warned to keep his lips sealed, saying as much that in this government, that which comes in news before things happen die a sudden death!