Mirch Masala

First India Sunday Special By Tridib Raman

The author is a journalist and political commentator and views expressed are his personal

NARENDRA MODI CAN CONTEST FROM TWO PLACES IN 2024

C an Narendra Modi contest from Varanasi as well as any other Lok Sabha seat in South India in the 2024 general elections? If the claims of sources associated with the BJP are to be believed, then the answer is ‘yes’. The reason is very clear, at present the graph of BJP is on the upswing in the states of North and West India and gradually BJP has made inroads in the states of East also. The BJP’s real concern is about the 128 seats in the south where regional parties, including the Congress, continue to hold sway. The BJP is confident that ‘the arrow in its quiver named Modi, is the only answer to all these challenges.’ Sources associated with the BJP claim that ‘Ramanathapuram seat in Tamil Nadu is one of Modi’s favourite seats in the 2024 general elections from where he can think of contesting elections. BJP needs one such ‘master stroke’ for its expansion in South India. Apart from Ramanathapuram, the saffron party is already trying to gauge the public mood in Madurai and Coimbatore. If we talk about Ramanathapuram, the BJP was at the third place here, but by the time the 2019 Lok Sabha elections came, the BJP joined the main fight here and it stood at the second place. How South India fares in the agenda of Modi and BJP can be understand from two examples. ‘Tamil Sangam’ was started with great fanfare in Kashi and at the inauguration of ‘Central Vista’ in Delhi, PM recited the poem of Tamil Mahakavi Bharatiyar i.e. Subrahmanyam Bharathi. Modi’s expressions and his conduct itself give indications of his future strategies.

NOW MUKESH AMBANI’S RELIANCE WILL EXPAND IN AMERICA!

Mukesh Ambani has now made up his mind to invest in America. Reliable sources reveal that Ambani’s company Reliance has taken services of a big PR company of America. The reason given was that Reliance Group has to expand in America. Last month, when Mukesh Ambani reached Washington DC, a senator there hosted a ‘breakfast’ in his honour, which 8 other senators attended. These US senators are said to have invited Ambani to visit their respective states, saying ‘Ambani should come there and create new jobs.’ In response, Mukesh reportedly told them that

‘Reliance Is always your friend’.

Then at a dinner held by American Congressman with more than 30 senators, an ‘Indian American Group’ i.e. ‘Samosa Group’ has invited Mukesh Ambani as chief guest in one of its events in coming summer. Be aware that this ‘Samosa Group’ has a lot of interest in American politics and those who formed this group include renowned Indian Americans like V-P Kamala Harris, Senator Raja Krishnamurthy, Ro Khanna, Dr Amy Bera & Pramila Jayaram. In another US-related development, acc to sources, two big wealth managers ‘Black Rock’ and ‘Black Stone’ who have invested billions in Adani’s ‘Green Energy’ say they will review their investments. Are these people now trending towards Reliance?

WHY BIHAR CONG IS IN BAD SHAPE?

M allikarjun Kharge, the new fledgling National President of Congress, knows that Rahul Gandhi is extra enthused about Bihar. So, he is looking forward to infuse a new life into the Bihar Congress. This Friday, he virtually addressed a workshop organised at Sadakat Ashram, the state HQs of Bihar Congress in Patna. This workshop was organised for the ‘Haath Se Haath Jodo’ campaign of Congress, in which 500 delegates of the Bihar Congress were to participate, where around 500 chairs were also set up. But it is said that hardly 150-200 delegates gathered in this workshop and later all the unoccupied chairs were removed in a hurry. After this, there was again a ruckus in Bihar Congress that the names of fake delegates should be removed from the list. Soon after, Kharge summoned Bihar Congress President Akhilesh Singh to Delhi. In this programme, a leader of Bihar Congress, Anil Sharma created a storm by saying that Congress should not run ‘Haath Se Haath Jodo’ campaign but ‘Dil Jodo’ campaign should be run. When Sharma was saying this, the programme was being broadcast live.