Chatterbox: BJP's surging confidence in Maharashtra

BJP is confident that it can form a govt on its own if a mid-term Assembly election is announced

Never has the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) been so confident or so ready to face elections as it is in Maharashtra. The thinking in the top leadership is to disregard the taunts and pressures of alliance partner Shiv Sena and make no effort to bend before it or to appear to be the supplicant in any way. This is amply demonstrated by the actions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. When a minister went to Mumbai and called on Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, he was rebuked by the PM and asked why he went there. The BJP is confident that it can form a government on its own if a mid-term Assembly election is announced. Wait till the elections to the President of India are over to see the real action.

Better late than never

The Congress has 104 members in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, combined. As the Budget session ended, Congress President Sonia Gandhi invited all members of Parliament (MP) from her party to dinner. Some, like Motilal Vora, were indisposed, or were campaigning for the by-elections: Jyotiraditya Scindia was in Bhind but returned to Delhi in the evening. But a headcount around 9.30 pm, revealed that only 52 of the 104 party MPs had turned up at the dinner. Some, like Digvijay Singh, had given fiery speeches in the Rajya Sabha earlier that day. When sundry spokespersons were asked the reason for the embarrassing reality that only one out of every two Congress MPs attended, their reply was that the invitees would come as the evening wore on.