BSP might throw a spanner in Cong's plans to keep its flock together

Window to Rahul's mind

After Sachin Pilot said on Wednesday that he was not joining the Bharatiya Janata Party and would remain a Congressman, veteran leader of the party Margaret Alva tweeted, “Differences are not anti-party. They have to be sorted out and compromises worked out. We have done it over the years.” To this, another Congress leader, Jairam Ramesh, tweeted that he agreed entirely and it triggered speculation that a rapprochement between Pilot and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot could be in the works. Importantly, the Alvas and the Nehru-Gandhis are extremely close, and one of Alva's sons, Nikhil, looks after Rahul Gandhi’s social media outreach. Late on Tuesday night, he tweeted, “It disheartens me to see politicians casually flip-flop across ideological lines in their pursuit of power. Politics is tough. Your back is often bloodied from where ‘friends’ have stabbed you. But without ideological mooring, true greatness will elude you. This is my belief.” With Rahul Gandhi not having spoken on the issue, the tweets from mother and son are being interpreted as a window to what he thinks of the matter.

Twist in the tale

Amid the Sachin Pilot crisis, the Congress has been hard at work in Rajasthan to keep its flock together so that it is able to face a floor test, should the need arise. But Uttar Pradesh politician Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) might throw a spanner in the works. Six of its MLAs in Rajasthan had joined the Congress in September last year, taking the tally of the state’s ruling party to 106. Since then, Mayawati has been increasingly vocal in her opposition to the Congress. Now her party is said to be mulling approaching the courts to stop those MLAs from voting for the Congress if there is a floor test. Even last month, the BSP had knocked on the doors of the Election Commission with the request that these six be ordered to follow the BSP whip rather than vote as Congress members during the Rajya Sabha election.

War over Covid stats

While political parties in other states are engaged in a war of words for under-reporting Covid infection numbers, the Congress party in Madhya Pradesh has accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of inflating the number. The MP Congress on Wednesday alleged that the ruling party was spreading "political coronavirus" to delay the upcoming by-polls in the state and urged the Election Commission to ensure it is held at the earliest. The state is due to hold bypolls to 25 Assembly seats after 23 Congress lawmakers defected to the BJP and two MLAs died. MP Congress media cell chairman Jitu Patwari also alleged the state government was on an "autopilot mode" so far as the pandemic was concerned as it was busy with political rallies, and that the Covid numbers were being overstated so as to mislead the people.