[IHRO] Melting Pot ~ article Abhijit Sengupta via yahoogroups to IHRO Melting Pot Arvinds growing cult status ~ Arati R Jerath Republic Day underlined Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwals rock star status. The reception he received both at the parade venue on Rajpath and later in Rashtrapati Bhavan at the Presidents traditional At Home tea should serve as a warning to his critics that his popularity is on the way up, not down, despite his controversial street protest against the Delhi Police. Newspapers have recorded the way he was mobbed by diplomats, senior bureaucrats and Delhis elite at the Presidents reception. The Capitals crème de la crème sought his autograph, whipped out mobile phones to take pictures and gave him celebrity treatment. But what took away the breath of his political rivals was the reaction of the crowd when he drove up to the VIP enclosure on Rajpath just before the parade. Occupants of the V 1 and V 2 enclosures, where the countrys movers and shakers sit, greeted him with a welcome roar and thunderous applause. And then to everyones shock, several invitees defied security norms and jumped over the heads of nonplussed cabinet ministers and opposition leaders to shake hands with Kejriwal. A senior BJP leader confessed privately that he had never seen anything like this at a Republic Day parade.The attention showered on the AAP leader was all the more glaring because Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, L K Advani and Sushma Swaraj grabbed no eyeballs at all. They looked like yesteryear heroes, faded and forgotten as a new star rises. The scene was pretty much the same at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Few guests showed interest in meeting leaders of the current dispensation. Instead, they surrounded AAP ministers with just one question on their lips: when is your chief minister coming? Bharti gets sound advice While Kejriwal was the cynosure of all eyes at Rashtrapati Bhavan, his ministers got their share of attention too. The minister in the eye of the current storm, Somnath Bharti, attracted both negative and positive reactions. Interestingly, journos made a beeline for him, not for sound bytes or quotes, but to plead with him not to fritter away the public goodwill for AAP by getting embroiled in controversies that give him and his party a bad name. One journo admitted later that at that moment, his news instincts deserted him and his feelings as a citizen of Delhi and an AAP sympathiser took over. Interestingly, Bharti presented a different side of his personality. He was humble instead of abrasive, conciliatory instead of confrontationist and receptive to advice of which he got more than enough to last a lifetime. He himself seemed to be in a mood to shed the bad boy image. He said he was now engaged in holding peace meetings between the Africans living in Khirki Extension and the locals to see if the complaints of residents could be addressed through negotiations and discussions. If only he had thought of doing that in the first place. Modi bigger than party? BJP circles are perturbed by the growing personality cult around Narendra Modi. The ads released by his team on National Voters Day last week featured a blowup of him but the BJPs election symbol of lotus was missing. A section of the leadership is terribly miffed. This group has interpreted the absence of the lotus as a sign that Brand Modi is becoming bigger than the party. Apparently, the issue has been taken up strongly with Modi. The BJPs prime minister candidate was warned that the party must come first. The PM nominee cannot overtake the party, he was told sternly. Modi is believed to have promised to ensure that the mistake is not repeated in future. But party circles are apprehensive. He has been repeatedly told to show more team spirit and keep the senior leadership in the loop about his campaign plans and strategy. But Modi remains secretive and has shown little inclination to accommodate the partys wishes. Cong bigwigs get jittery Even as BJP patriarch L K Advani is resisting pressures from within to opt out of the forthcoming Lok Sabha election, several senior Congress ministers are believed to have expressed a desire not to contest this time. Among the names being mentioned in this context are finance minister P Chidambaram and home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde. Both are going around telling political friends and foes that they have had enough of active electoral politics. Of course, both are on a weak wicket in their home states. Chidambaram almost lost the election in 2009 and with AIADMK boss Jayalalithaa in command in Tamil Nadu, even his well wishers feel its going to be tough for him this time. Apparently, Jayalalithaa has sworn to have him defeated because she blames him for the cases she is fighting for financial irregularities. Those who know Chidambaram say he is hoping to be accommodated in the Rajya Sabha. Shinde too faces an uncertain future in Maharashtra where there is a strong anti-incumbency feeling against the Congress-NCP alliance. NCP chief Sharad Pawar has smartly opted out of the Lok Sabha race by filing his nomination for a Rajya Sabha seat. Like Chidambaram, Shinde is hoping for a berth in the upper house.
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 10:56:17 +0000