How would Maharani Vasundhara Raje of Rajasthan have known that the same V P Badnor – of Badnor constituency of Bhilwara — whom she was openly opposing for a second Rajya Sabha term will get so lucky? Badnor has been an MLA four times, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha member once each; when he lost the Lok Sabha elections in 2009, he was sent to the Rajya Sabha. His tenure there ended only last month, and party heavyweights such as Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley and Rajeev Pratap Rudy wanted him to get a second tenure of the Rajya Sabha, but Raje was not agreeable to the idea. As a Parliamentarian, Badnor was also the chairman of a housing committee, and had made several friends in the Opposition too, thanks to his friendly and gentle nature. It is said he has good personal relations with Narendra Modi as well. This Monday, when he is sworn in as the governor of Punjab, he will also become in-charge of Chandigarh. For Badnor, the Central government has done away with its 32-year-old condition so that he can become both the governor of Punjab and the boss of Chandigarh.

Everyone must be curious to know how the PM changed his take and tune on Kashmir all of the sudden, and how he has started to talk about Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, and Baluchistan. The person behind this is a man called A B Mathur, who has been inducted into his team by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. Mathur is an IPS officer of 1974 batch, and has experience of working with both RAW and IB. He is also a great friend of Doval from old days. Mathur is also said to be an expert on Bangladesh and Pakistan. Sources say after being inducted as an advisor, he submitted a dossier to Doval on Pakistan, which the latter passed on to Modi. This dossier discussed in detail how Baluchistan is a raw nerve for Pakistan. And it was on Mathur’s behest that Modi pressed Pakistan’s pain point.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is upset with his junior ministers. He has no idea why Santosh Gangwar and Arjun Meghwal have been sent to finance ministry, since they are more appropriate for law ministry. If you consider Santosh Gangwar, he is a law graduate from Rohilkhand University. Meghwal, on the other hand, is a promoted IAS officer who has a law degree and a masters in political science; he also has an MBA from Philippines University. Maybe that is the reason that for international meeting on economic matters that Jaitley can’t attend himself, he prefers to send his officers rather than his ministers for state. A few days ago, there was an Economic Forum meeting in China, where Jaitley preferred to send Secretary of Ministry for Finance Shaktikanta Das instead of his junior ministers. It is worth noting that this is the same Shaktikanta Das who is being targeted by Swamy for some time now.

Had Amit Shah really prepared himself to take over the reins of Gujarat? Reliable sources close to the PMO claim that after Anandiben’s resignation over Facebook, Amit Shah had gone to Mumbai, where he met some industrialists close to Modi. In the meeting, Shah requested these moneybags to recommend his name to Modi for the chief minister’s post. After returning to Delhi, Shah spoke to Venkaiah Naidu, Arun Jaitley and Nitin Gadkari, and requested them to make the PM agree to Shah’s name. According to sources, on the day the BJP was to have a Parliamentary group meeting, Shah had spoken to Ram Lal and Ananth Kumar in detail. Narendra Modi came to know about this incident. Thus, the minute Modi entered the meeting room to talk about Gujarat during the Parliamentary group meeting, he clearly told the Parliamentarians that all names, except that of Amit Shah, will be discussed for the chief minister’s post. Sensing Modi’s intentions, the name of Nitin Patel got approval and it fell upon Nitin Gadkari and Saroj Pandey to get the MLAs’ approval for Patel’s name. The minute Nitin Patel’s group came to know about this, his supporters started distributing sweets, and Patel himself started accepting congratulatory messages. Seeing how all his moves were going awry, Shah met with Modi that very night, touched his feet as a mark of respect, and asked for his blessings saying that in 2017, he will win Gujarat’s Assembly elections on his own. Thereafter, he spoke to Modi in Gujarati and said, “For this, all you need to do is give the green signal to Vijay Rupani’s name.” Although Modi agreed to this, somehow Shah still can’t come to terms with the fact that he couldn’t become the chief minister despite wanting to. It matters little that Rupani, like Bharat, is running the state in Shah’s name. Ram still got exile, didn’t he?

For the Congress, its Karnataka chief Siddharamaiah is nothing but a thorn in its side. Sources say the Congress covertly conducted a public opinion survey in Karantaka recently, which has added to the worry lines on the high command’s forehead. The survey results say if elections take place in Karnataka today, the Congress will not get more than 55 seats. After this, big Congress leaders from the Congress had a meeting in Delhi, which was attended by the likes of Siddharamaiah himself, as well as Mallikarjun Khadge and Veerappa Moily, and it was headed by Sonia Gandhi herself. It was decided in the meeting that Siddharamaiah will vacate his post for a Vokkalinga leader, under whom two Lingayat leaders will be made the deputy CM. In exchange, Siddharamaiah will be made the party’s national secretary, and contrary to tradition, will also be made Karanataka prabhari. Siddharamaiah didn’t say anything during the meeting. But sources say that when he came out of the meeting and sat in Khadge’s car, and allegedly told him, “The Congress may be running as blood in your veins, but that is not the case with me. That is because I have mostly done Congress-opposing politics. If justice is not done, the BJP will not be a stranger to me anymore. That party is even ready to make me a Cabinet minister.” A shocked Khadge reached home and quietly called up Sonia from a room, apprising her of Siddharamaiah’s intentions. He also said, “The only big state we have left is Karnataka. It will not be prudent to touch the bee’s hive right now.” Sonia agreed and Siddharamaiah’s post remained his.

In another incident, when Kalikho Pul was trying to garner support from MLAs for himself and the BJP, it is said BJP supremo Amit Shah spoke to Assam’s heavyweight BJP leader Hemant Biswa Sarma, and told him he will have to take care of Pul and the MLAs with him in all ways possible. It is said Biswa Sarma was upset with the BJP high command for some reason. Thus, while he took great care of Pul and his MLAs, got them to stay at his hotel with the best amenities, he didn’t assist them with anything else. When the date for the floor test approached closer, sources say Pul had full support of 47 MLAs, but he was unable to fulfill his promises to these MLAs. It is said Shah had given this responsibility to Biswa Sarma, who didn’t want to be bothered with it at that time. As a result, Pul’s political strategy went for a toss. When a hurt and defeated Pul got in touch with Congress MLA Ninong Aring and said he was ready to come back home, on the condition that if he doesn’t become the CM, neither will Nawang Tuki. He said anyone else can be made the CM, and in exchange, he be given a Lok Sabha ticket. Pul’s deal with the Congress came through, but the hurt in his heart didn’t stop paining.

In the Aam Aadmi Party’s core committee meeting, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh were of the opinion that Navjot Singh Siddhu be made the chief of the party’s campaign committee in Punjab. If reliable sources close to the AAP are to be believed, it was only Kejriwal who didn’t agree to this. His view was that when Siddhu was in the BJP, he called BJP his mother and the party his home. Now that he was ready to come with AAP, he might repeat the one-liner for them as well. And it was even possible he would be with them only until the elections. On the other hand, about Bhagwant Mann Kejriwal was of the opinion that he might have his flaws, and questions could be raised about his political maturity, but he was like a member of their family. They could intrinsically trust him. It was only after this that Mann was made the chief of the campaign committee in Punjab. For Siddhu, it was decided that he will move around all over Punjab and campaign for AAP. In exchange, his wife may be given a senior Cabinet minister.

Reliable sources claim that two rebel AAP MPs met with Modi last week. It is said that during the Punjab Assembly elections, these two Parliamentarians had assured support towards the BJP’s win. It was also decided that both of them will try to weaken AAP from the inside. Sources say that in the evening when some journalists went to meet one of these rebel leaders, Dr Dharamvir Gandhi, he shared all the details of his meeting with the prime ministers in detail. When the BJP high command came to know about this, the party’s cadre was alerted that they should maintain a distance with Dr Gandhi.

While Gujarat got a new chief minister in the form of Vijay Rupani, BJP President Amit Shah’s stature got a little more elevated. It is worth noting that when Anandiben Patel offered her resignation after some issues with Shah, she had given her clear opinion in front of Modi saying he can make anyone the chief minister, but not Rupani. This conflict was also seen clearly in the meeting with MLAs, when several of them along with Patel had an exchange of some sharp words with Shah. It was Modi’s veto that helped Shah keep his hat on. The decision also reiterated the fact that some things that Shah says in the party are considered as cast in stone. As a BJP head in Gujarat, Rupani made sure he carried out Shah’s instructions to the T, but also made Patel’s journey as a chief minister one fraught with challenges. Nitin Patel’s name had got the green signal at a time, and most BJP MLAs were also said to be in his favour. But Shah changed the entire game for his favoured Rupani. Reliable sources claim that Rupani is a politician who will be willing to vacate his post in the days to come. Assembly elections are likely to take place in Gujarat in October, 2017. Thus, after the Lok Sabha elections get concluded in March, Shah may be crowned as the chief minister. Rupani seems to be working towards helping realize this dream of Shah’s.

All’s not well with the BJP politics in UP. Party prabhari Om Mathur, who is trying hard to help the party come out of Shah’s shadow, is said to be pretty upset with Sunil Bansal’s work methodology; Bansal is believed to be extremely close to Amit Shah. Sources say Mathur has complained about this many a time to Modi, but the matter is always brushed under the carpet. This is despite the fact that Mathur’s relations with Modi not only go a long way back, they are also deep. There was a time when Mathur was also in the fray to become the party’s national president, even. Despite this, he is waiting for justice to be served. That is because everytime Mathur complains about Bansal to Modi, he is given the same standard reply that he will speak to Amit ji this time. Seems now only what Shah wants will happen in the BJP.