Anita Katyal | Will Raghav Chadha be arrested next? Kanhaiya loses out once again
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s refusal to resign after being taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate has led to considerable speculation about his reasons for not stepping down. There is a view in the Aam Aadmi Party that Mr Kejriwal is deliberately pushing the Centre to impose President’s Rule so he can play the victim card, which happens to be his strong suit. It is also being surmised that Mr Kejriwal is not putting in his papers because he does not have a succession plan in place for the party. As it is, a host of second-rung leaders are positioning themselves for a stint as Delhi chief minister. Had Manish Sisodia not been in jail, he would have been an obvious choice but currently Atishi, Gopal Rai, Saurabh Bharadwaj and even the Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel are not averse to throwing their hat in the ring. However, none of them have the capacity or the credibility to stand in for Mr Kejriwal. It is little wonder then that Mr Kejriwal’s wife, Sunita, is being mentioned as his possible replacement.
A hot media favourite and a permanent fixture on television news channels, Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajya Sabha member Raghav Chadha has been missing from the scene of action. He is away to London ostensibly for an eye surgery. According to the Capital’s political grapevine, Mr Chadha is delaying his return to India as there is talk that his name figures on the list of AAP leaders who could be arrested next. He is, therefore, biding his time before coming home. There are others who see a connection between the ongoing conjecture about Mr Chadha’s likely arrest and well-known movie star Priyanka Chopra’s recent visit to India when she paid obeisance at Ayodhya’s Ram Temple. Known to be close to the current ruling dispensation, Priyanka Chopra, it is said, possibly used this opportunity to put in a word for Raghav Chadha who is married to her cousin Parineeti, also an actor.
Well before the Bharatiya Janata Party finalised its list of Lok Sabha candidates for Uttar Pradesh, there had been a buzz in party circles that the mother-son duo — Maneka and Varun Gandhi — would not make the grade. Maneka Gandhi had been out of favour with the leadership for some years now while Varun Gandhi had upset the BJP bosses by publicly criticising the party. It was, therefore, no surprise when Varun Gandhi was not fielded from Pilibhit for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. But it was also surprising that Maneka Gandhi was named the BJP candidate from Sultanpur. This was clearly a well-considered move. Maneka Gandhi is a popular leader in Sultanpur and benching her could have backfired on the BJP. There was also a possibility that mother and son could rebel against the party if both were denied tickets. But by fielding Maneka and denying Varun a ticket, the BJP has effectively silenced both. Varun Gandhi has little option but to keep a low profile and support his mother’s campaign. He broke his silence last week by penning a heartfelt letter to the people of Pilibhit to say his doors would always be open for them and that he would continue to serve them even though he would no longer represent them in the Lok Sabha.
This story has an ironic twist to it. In 2019 when former student leader Kanhaiya Kumar was fielded for the Lok Sabha election from Begusarai constituency in Bihar, he was with the CPI. His candidature led to considerable tension between the Left Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal which insisted that their candidate would contest this seat. The RJD leadership refused to heed pleas from the other parties of the Mahagathbandhan who wanted the coalition to field a common candidate and went ahead with the nomination of Tanveer Hasan for this seat. As a result, the BJP ended up notching up a handsome victory. However, RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav sprung a surprise this time and has generously offered the seat to the CPI for the coming Lok Sabha election as part of their seat-sharing pact. Kanhaiya Kumar, then with the CPI, has since joined the Congress and had hoped the party would name him for the Begusarai seat this time. Clearly, the young leader has lost out once again.
Politicians shifting loyalties and parties on the eve of the upcoming Lok Sabha election cite a host of reasons for this change. These days, leaders facing the heat from enforcement agencies rush to join the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party because they know their cases will go into cold storage after their move. On record, however, they maintain, they are joining as they are inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership or that their party has lost connection with the people. In most cases, though, leaders leave when they are denied a ticket. But Rajesh Mishra, former Congress MP and senior party leader from Varanasi, is said to have moved to BJP for unusual reasons. Though he has not said so, his aides revealed that Mr Mishra left the Congress as he was nervous he would be given a ticket and would have to fight a losing battle against the Prime Minister.