Mirch Masala

First India Sunday Special

BY TRIDIB RAMAN

TEJASHWI ON SAFFRON TARGET VIA CENTRAL AGENCIES!

Speculation has intensified regarding the re-merger of the Janata Parivar, wherein the Janata Dal (U), RJD, JD(S), INLD and the Rashtriya Lok Dal, the leaders of the opposition unit, get together to form the old Janata Dal or some coordination can be established between them. When the saffron camp came to know about this, its emissaries became active, its strategists contacted Tejashwi and told him that ‘if he only leaves Nitish’s side, BJP is ready to make him the Chief Minister of the state.’ A clear formula was worked out that RJD, being the largest party, should submit claim to the Governor to form Tejashwi’s gov ernment. When the time comes to prove ma- jority in the house, BJP will walk out, as it once did when Mulayam’s government was in UP. But sources tell that Tejashwi flatly refused to get trapped in this saffron trap. After this, Nitish’s statement also came to the fore that ‘he will not go with BJP till death.’ Nitish also made it clear to Tejashwi that ‘he will leave the Chief Minister’s chair for Tejashwi in July-August and will become active in central politics’. Now it is possible that the central agencies may file several serious cases against Tejashwi in the month of May-June. It is said that these cases are related to the time when Tejashwi Yadav became the deputy CM of the state for the first time. The BJP hopes that Nitish will hardly be able to support Tejashwi on the matter of corruption, and thereafter, the only option before Tejashwi would be court.

LOK SABHA ELECTIONS 2024: BJP ‘JUGGLING’ TO HELP OBC CASTES

The latest Union Budget has tried its best to cater to the non-Yadav OBC castes, considering that this current Union Budget will prove to be the last full-time budget before the 2024 general elections. In a way, this is a completely election budget, in which provision has been made for an additional budget of Rs 2 lakh crore for the free ration scheme for the poor. If the claims of reliable sources associated with the central government are to be believed, then the present government may announce the general elections ahead of time in order to implement the ‘One Nation, One Election’ programme. These elections can be held along with the possible assembly elections of nine States. Keeping this idea in mind, ‘Pradhan Mantri Vishwakarma Kaushal Samman Yojana’ has been launched in the budget and it is believed that this scheme is going to benefit the non-Yadav OBC castes across the country, especially in UP. In UP alone there are more than 52% OBC castes, even if Yadavs are excluded from this, then this figure remains at 42%, which is a group of more than 140 castes and this group plays an important role in defeating or winning a candidate in elections. In the 2014 general elections also, the OBC castes played the most important role in forming the BJP government.

WILL ILTIJA MUFTI ENTER POLITICS?

Iltija Mufti, the elder daughter of former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, is said to be all set to enter politics. In recent times she has been seen walking in step with Rahul Gandhi in his Bharat Jodo Yatra. Fluent in Hindi, English and Urdu languages, Iltija did her schooling from a boarding school in Shimla, then graduated from Delhi University and went to London’s Warwick University for her post graduation. After returning from there, she worked in a think tank in Delhi, then started working for ‘Gulf News’. After the abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir, Iltija started making her video blog regularly — ‘Aapki Baat with Iltija.’ Even when asked, she says — ‘No, I don’t want to do politics,’ but no tell for sure what her future plans really are.