By Rahil Nora Chopra
Politics these days is dominated by name changes. Names of cities, stations, roads etc are being changed almost on a daily basis. But Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has had a dismal record in this respect. She has made three attempts in the past seven years to change the name of West Bengal to Bangla, but the central government is not giving her the permission. The Centre has returned the latest request saying the name cannot be similar in pattern to the name of Bangladesh. In 2011, Mamata had proposed Paschimbanga as the new name but at that time the UPA government rejected it. In 2016 she has suggested three names one each in Hindi, English and Bangla, all of which were rejected by the Centre. Now Mamata is blaming the central government saying that while they are changing the names of historical places, institutions and cities but refusing to oblige West Bengal. She has countered the argument about similarity to Bangladesh by citing the case of Punjab which is there in both India and Pakistan. She is now making it an issue of Bengali sentiments and wants to take it to the streets of West Bengal before the coming Lok Sabha elections.
MAYAWATI THROWS ANOTHER SURPRISE
After Mayawati and Ajit Jogi announced their alliance for Chattisgarh it was believed that the arrangement was to the benefit of BJP. But with Mayawati declaring that she will not support both BJP and Congress after the election, there is big uncertainty as to what can happen. The position of Jogi has become weaker in his stronghold of Surguja region, which has 14 assembly seats and will be the deciding factor for Congress and BJP. In the previous election BJP and Congress won 7 seats each from this region. In Surguja 45% of the population is of tribals and 40% of OBC. The tribals are mostly Christians and traditionally supporters of Congress because of Jogi. Among the OBCs Sahu and Kurmis are the majority castes. While the Sahus have been BJP supporters, Kurmis have backed Congress. According to political observers, caste plays an important role in Surguja region and it is clear from the ticket distribution pattern of both the parties. Opposition leader in the house TS Singh Deo also belongs to this region, along with two ministers in the Raman Singh government, who are fighting election from the area. There is certain anti-incumbency against the sitting MLAs and the BJP government, which will definitely give an edge to Congress. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and UP CM Yogi Adityanath are campaigning in the region for BJP while Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu are addressing rallies for the opposition. BJP sources claim the party will win more than 10 seats from this region on the strength of the development work done there. On the other hand, TS Singh Deo expressed the confidence that Congress will win 12 seats, giving it a decisive edge over BJP.
KUSHWAHA PUTS FORTH CONSPIRACY THEORY
RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha has set November 30 as the deadline for BJP to offer a respectable number of seats to contest in the Lok Sabha election. He will apparently announce his final decision on December 5. In last election BJP had given him three seats but has reduced it to two this time. He claims that RJD has offered him five seats. According to BJP sources, the two seats have been offered to Kushwaha as Arun Kumar MP has already left his party. Although Kushwaha met Tejasvi Yadav and Sharad Yadav, he is yet to decide weather he will remain with the BJP or will be a part of Mahagathbandhan. He has taken the stand that he does not want to meet any BJP leader other than Modi as he wants to impress upon the prime minister about a group within the Bihar NDA which does not want to see Modi returning to power. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Kushwaha have been fighting each other in Bihar, which explains the move to oust Kushwaha from the BJP alliance.
HIGH STAKES IN UTTARAKHAND CIVIC POLLS
Although Uttarakhand is a small state, it is very active politically. The local bodies elections are now on and infighting within both BJP and Congress is at a peak. State Congress president Pritam Singh is openly ignoring Harish Rawat and his followers. Although Rahul Gandhi has accommodated the former chief minister in his team, the state Congress leaders are not in a mood to oblige Harish Rawat .Pritam Singh has named Harish Rawat as a star campaigner but no district unit has invited him for campaigning. Harish Rawat has said that he is ready to campaign but nobody is ready to accept his offer. Pritam Singh supporters say by inviting Harish Rawat the election may turn into Brahmin versus Thakur issue. The local poll results will decide the status of Pritam Singh in Congress and Chief Minister Trivendra Rawat in BJP. (IPA)
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