Rajasthan crisis: Mayawati joins H D Kumaraswamy in slamming Congress

Murmu jumps the gun

At a time when political parties and observers are keenly watching whether the Election Commission (EC) postpones the Bihar polls or not, the EC on Tuesday ticked off Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor G C Murmu. It disapproved of Murmu’s repeated statements that seemed to indicate elections to the newly carved out Union Territory would be held after the completion of the delimitation exercise. The EC said it “takes an exception to a barrage of such statements and would like to remind the LG that in the constitutional scheme of things, the timings, etc. of elections is the sole remit of the Election Commission of India”. The EC said Covid-19 had introduced a new dynamic, which had to be and would be taken into consideration at the due time. Several Opposition parties had demanded that Bihar's Assembly polls be postponed because of the rapid spread of Covid-19 in the state. In the context of Murmu’s statements, the EC said “such statements (are) tantamount to interfering with the constitutional mandate of the Election Commission”.

New partners

Looks like Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati has got an unlikely partner in Janata Dal (Secular) leader H D Kumaraswamy. While slamming the party’s erstwhile state ally for its nationwide Save Democracy campaign against the BJP on Tuesday, Kumaraswamy said, “The Congress is another name for horse-trading. In fact, the term horse-trading came to be used in politics thanks to the Congress.” On her part, Mayawati lashed out at Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, saying he had merged her party’s MLAs with the Congress with “malicious intent” — referring to the induction of all six BSP MLAs in the state into the Congress last year. “We have asked these six MLAs to vote against the Congress in any proceedings to be held during the Assembly session,” she said while threatening to go to court to teach Gehlot “a lesson”.

Friendly fire

Sanjay Singh, Rajya Sabha member from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), on Tuesday took a jibe at the political situation in Rajasthan, more specifically at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing it of trying to engineer a split among the ruling Congress MLAs. Singh posted a tweet in Hindi, which loosely translates: “Everything remains shut in the lockdown, but essential items like alcohol, MLAs, trains, airports, banks and government assets are up for sale.” Up against a seasoned leader like Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, on the one hand, and struggling to solve the pandemic puzzle on the other, the BJP central leadership would certainly not welcome a dose of caustic sarcasm at this juncture. For the AAP, however, this is a slight departure from the recent bonhomie shown by its leaders towards the BJP, which many have interpreted as signs of a tacit understanding between the two.