Chatterbox: Exploring options

Many resets are being reported in Bihar politics. Uday Narayan Chaudhary, former Speaker in the Bihar Assembly and a senior leader in the Janata Dal United (JDU) has quit his party and is planning to join the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). His grouse is that the alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has turned the JDU into an anti-Dalit party, compromising on the party’s social agenda. JDU says his coming or going will have little effect as he is not considered a mass leader. Meanwhile, with almost certain denial of ticket in the 2019 General Election, BJP MP from Patna Sahib, Shatrughan Sinha is exploring other options — and so are BJP leaders for the vacancy that will arise. Sinha, too, is considering the RJD: The constituency is dominated by voters belonging to the Kayastha community. Sinha has won the seat for two consecutive terms ever since it was created after delimitation. Sinha has already had some discussions with Lalu Prasad and Tejaswi Yadav.

Expect a reshuffle

Is the BJP planning another reshuffle in its Delhi unit? Manoj Tiwari, the Bhojpuri singer and Member of Parliament was brought in with an eye on the purvanchali vote in Delhi that has emerged as the single biggest chunk of voters. But the traditional BJP leadership of Punjabis and Baniyas is now making its presence felt and wants its representatives to head the unit. The nature and character of the party in Delhi is going through a fundamental change. But its leaders seem to be out of sync with this reality. The Punjabi-Baniya communities are especially worried that the sealing drive might affect the party’s prospects adversely.