Even after so many weeks after the BJP sweep in UP, turmoil that had hit the opposition parties have not subsided. They are all still on unsteady feet. Grapevine has it that recently Ajit Singh, the Jat mandarin of the state, summoned some of his most trusted party colleagues to his farmhouse and said that at 78 years of age, it was becoming very difficult for him to stay afloat in the hit-and-run of daily political involvement. “In the last UP polls, only one of our candidates won from Chhaprauli, and that too by just 1,000 votes. Earlier, we would win by margins of nothing less than 70,000 votes. In 13 districts of the state, there are constituencies where Jats comprise more than 27 per cent. And yet, we got nothing from there.” During the meeting, Ajit Singh dropped a hint that he had a chat with BJP boss Amit Shah and it is possible that his party could be merging with the saffron party. Singh also confided that it is possible that the BJP might consider giving tickets for a few constituencies, and that possibly, his son Jayant may be considered by BJP to contest for the Lok Sabha under the latter’s banner in 2019. At this, his colleagues were furious. They said: Chaudhary saab, you are just putting your family’s interests above those of the party.” It is said that somehow Ajit Singh has assured them that he would take no major decision without consulting them.

Birds from Lucknow tell us that the so-called poll Machiavelli Prashant Kishor recently met former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav. He told Akhilesh that there is no point in splitting hairs over the lost elections in UP. “So I suggest instead of all that, you get me a large sum of money,” and the amount was huge, “and I will see to it that you reach the PM’s seat in the 2019 polls.” Already furious with the strategist, Akhilesh turned around and asked with clear sarcasm: “And where has Rahul reached this time with your help? You had promised the moon to him as well. So it is better that you find some other people to make a fool out of!” Kishor turned pale at this.

Our ears and eyes in Lucknow tell us that central Minister of State for Communications, Manoj Sinha was for a while riding well to the CM’s chair in Uttar Pradesh. He was apparently the first choice for the Modi-Shah duo. In fact, transport and shipping minister Nitin Gadkari had been given the deployed for clearing his path. Gadkari took up ‘office’ in the Five Star Taj Hotel and even got 187 MLAs to sign their support for Sinha. When Yogi Adityanath got wind of this, he rushed to Lucknow and he too took up ‘office’ in the same Taj. This became the game changer, and even the RSS fell in line. The Gomti flowed swiftly, as swiftly as the changes in the complex political drama, in which it soon became clear that Yogi pulled more weight. Watching these developments, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh sent two of his closest aides to meet Yogi, and they were swept off their feet by the deep saffron line toed by Yogi. After this, Yogi got a call from Shah and was told to reach Delhi to meet him. Shah promptly told him to meet Modi. By the time Yogi reached 7 RCR, Modi was about to leave for Uttarakhand to attend the oath taking ceremony there. The two met for barely two minutes. Modi congratulated him and said: “I am giving you a huge responsibility.” With that he went for Dehradun and Yogi rocketed to Lucknow.

Ever since Yogi became the CM in Uttar Pradesh, the retired IAS officer and PMO strongman Nripendra Misra has made Lucknow his part-time home. He had been given charge of making the appointments and transfers in the bureaucracy and was directly in touch with the RSS bosses. He intermittently spoke to Modi as well and with Amit Shah, he was a regular. The BJP high command wanted to appoint shipping secretary Rajiv Kumar as UP chief secretary, and depute additional secretary Sunil Agarwal as Yogi’s principal secretary. But when Misra reached Yogi’s office with the bosses’ wish list, Yogi promptly botched him. Yogi chose Avanish Awasthi, husband of folk singer Malini Awasthi, as his principal secretary. The message was clear: when in UP, do as the Yogi does. And no one need bother sidestepping him, please!

Birds from Mulayam Singh’s garden tell us that the top honcho in the Mayawati camp, Satish Mishra and Mulayam had a meeting for over close to one hour recently. As expected, both the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party are down in the dumps after the licking in the UP state polls. Top leaders of the two parties apparently feel that if they do not make a fresh beginning even now, then both will be uprooted in the 2019 General Elections. It is said that it was Mulayam who took the first step and spoke to Mayawati, who then sent her trusted lieutenant Mishra to meet the SP (M) boss. Both of them agreed to leave behind the past animus and unite. Mishra, however, had the apprehension that if ‘Behenji’ takes such a step, the Centre might file a few CBI cases against her for corruption. But the old war horse Mulayam shot back: “There are many more such cases against me.” Mishra was convinced, but said that Amar Singh should be nowhere around in this deal, and Mulayam said, “Thine will be done!”

After the shocking results of the UP elections, a distraught Akhilesh surrendered himself at his father’s feet. The two of them had a marathon meeting for over three hours, during which old wounds were dried and new strategies worked out. Thereafter, uncle Shivpal was summoned. The moment uncle arrived, Akhilesh said: “Tell me, uncle, what have you gained out of this?” Shivpal said: “At least, you have realised that just flooding the media with money gets you nowhere.” To which Akhilesh retorted: “You made us lose in at least 13 or 14 seats.” Shivpal said: “Oh no… in many more. I came to ask for just two seats from you, but you refused. Don’t forget I am old wrestler and know very well how to put the rival on the mat.” Mulyam sat through, mute, sans reaction, and poor Akhilesh had nothing much left to say.

All the saffron ministers in Uttar Pradesh not just want ‘lucrative’ ministries for themselves, but even spanking large offices too. Earlier in the state, former CM Akhilesh’s coterie used to hold fort in the iconic Fifth Floor of the Annexe Building. Akhilesh, Shivpal Yadav and Azam Khan all had their offices there. Then Akhilesh got a sparkling new office made, the Lok Nayak Bhavan, bang opposite the Assembly Building. This is also just next to the state BJP office. Promptly, Azam Khan and Shivpal too relocated to the new Bhavan. Now this has become the office of the new CM, Yogi Adityanath. Interestingly, the two deputy CMs, Dinesh Sharma and Keshav Prasad Maurya were given the chambers earlier used by Azam Khan and Shivpal. But all of a sudden, Maurya started eyeing the Fifth Floor office in Annexe, and he got his nameplate stuck on the doors of that office as well.

After submerging Uttar Pradesh, the saffron duo Amit Shah and Modi are looking straight at the 2019 general elections. They have shown no hurry in selecting the UP CM, but they are rushing to meet the poll promises made to the state voters. Modi, the known strict administrator, summoned an emergency meeting of the top babus of the state immediately after the poll results were declared. The officers have been tasked to implement the key promises made in the 30-page poll manifesto. And green signal has been given to a four-point action plan. For Modi and Shah, cracking down on the law and order situation in the state is of the utmost priority. They also want 24-hour power supply in the state, action on mechanical slaughtered houses, and write off of the debts to the sugarcane farmers. Some of their favourite officers have also been enlisted, such as the once favourite of Rajnath Singh, Alok Singh, who has been sent on deputation to UP. And all this, even before the CM-elect has taken oath!

May be the RSS did not have its say all the way in selecting the CM for UP, but it had a clear field in Uttarakhand. Whereas the Sangh’s top leader Bhaiyaji Joshi had full support for Rajnath Singh as the UP CM, but could not pull it off, but in Uttarakhand, the entire top brass from Nagpur had backed Trivendra Singh Rawat to the hilt. The credit of bringing Rawat into BJP goes to former UP BJP organising secretary Mohan Singh Rawat. Trivendra Rawat belongs to Pauri region and is a trusted person of RSS and Amit Shah. He had been a minister in the reigns of Nityanand Swami as well as Bhagat Singh Koshyari. It is said that he was once very close to Rajnath Singh, but in the changing political spectrum, he changed his political hue, strategy and loyalties.

A huge media house that always batted for the Congress seems to be poised to change hands soon. When to top boss of the company met the richest man in the country, Mukesh Ambani recently, she had a proposal. And since that day rumours have been rife about the impending change of hands. Knowledgeable insiders tell us that at the moment it is all stuck on the price. Bees are humming that whereas Ambani wants to set the purchase price of the company as the sum total of the current value of its shares in the market, the lady is insisting on a larger amount, which must include its name, brand value and goodwill. At the moment the proposal is in the freezer. Meanwhile, the lady has started a new startup company and shifted all her top paid and senior-most employees to its rolls, though they are all doing just what they had been doing. It is estimated that this will help hike the profit ratio of the media company and its share value will take a pole vault. Any startup enjoys a five-year tax holiday, so the media company will reap that benefit as well and improve its stature in the share market, which will force Ambani to re-evaluate the company’s price he would have to pay.