A hard-earned break: Amit Shah joins party colleagues for a rare dine out

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah has a reputation in the party of being a hard taskmaster and a workaholic who has little time for recreation. It surprised many in his party when they heard Shah joined some of his party colleagues for dinner at a restaurant in Delhi on Tuesday evening. The outside world came to know of it when BJP Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy tweeted about it on Wednesday afternoon. "Yesterday, hard working efficient Parliamentary Affairs Minister (Vijay) Goel took BJP MPs of Rajya Sabha, including me to dinner at a lovely Rajasthan type ITDC Haveli restaurant/hotel in Chandni Chowk. Party president Amit Shah headed the dinner table. The informality of the occasion was great," Swamy tweeted. A party member quipped how much has changed after the recent Assembly poll results.

Dhaba politics of MP

Allegations of horse-trading are surfacing in Madhya Pradesh with unfailing regularity. In the most recent instance, Congress members have cited names and numbers to bolster their allegation. They have claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has put out feelers to at least four of the party MLAs in the state. According to former chief minister and senior party leader Digvijaya Singh, BJP MLA Narayan Tripathi had taken Congress' Sabalgarh MLA Baijnath Kushwah to a dhaba (local eatery) for a tête-à-tête. Former ministers Narottam Mishra and Vishwas Sarang (both from the BJP) met him (Kushwaha) and allegedly offered  Rs 100 crore to topple the government. Three other Congress MLAs — Hira Alawa (Manavar), Ashok Marskole (Niwas) and Panchilal Medha (Dharmapuri) — also alleged that BJP leaders have contacted them and offered ministerial berths in return for a defection.

Dismal floor management

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in Madhya Pradesh were doleful about what they termed was dismal floor management in the Assembly they dominated for 15 years. They cited the recent election of the Assembly Speaker as a case in point. The election was the first big test for the ruling Congress, but the BJP failed to capitalise on the opportunity. Congress MLA N P Prajapati was elected the Speaker of the 15th Assembly in the absence of BJP MLAs, who walked out protesting the protem speaker's refusal to let the Opposition party propose the name of its nominee for the post. A senior BJP leader rued that he was sad to see the "disintegration" of the state unit.