Is there a Rajnath Singh angle to the selection of Yogi Adityanath as UP chief minister? Looking at the composition of the new UP government, a strong element of internal BJP politics seems to have played a role in influencing decisions.

Commentators have focused on Adityanath’s hardline Hindutva credentials. But Adityanath also represents a new order in the UP BJP, long dominated by Rajnath Singh and his loyalists. The choice of Aditynath is interesting. He, like Rajnath, is a Thakur and they have a long standing rivalry. BJP circles point out that despite Adityanath being a five-term MP with a mass following, he was never given any responsible position in the party. He was also never allowed to spread his wings beyond Gorakhpur.

Party sources say that Adityanath was boxed into Gorakhpur because of Rajnath Singh who did not want a rival Thakur leader to rise in the BJP. Till the emergence of Modi, Rajnath has been a major voice in UP.
Now, here’s the significant part. According to the buzz in the BJP, the RSS leadership was keen that Rajnath Singh be appointed as UP CM after the huge mandate. In fact, a top Sangh leader is believed to have suggested it gently to Modi.

But Modi had no intention of handing over a mandate won in his name to someone who is seen a potential rival in the power hierarchy. He turned down the Sangh suggestion.

That’s when the name of Manoj Sinha emerged as a compromise choice. Sinha is said to be close to Rajnath but he has also established a good equation with Modi as an efficient and hard working minister.

Modi kept his counsel and allowed Sinha’s name to be floated. Adityanath was sprung on a surprised BJP and RSS just hours before the swearing in ceremony.

Modi and Shah have long been impressed with Adityanath for his blunt talk and of course, his ideological leanings. By placing him as UP CM, they have sidelined Rajnath and relegated him to a similar marg darshak mandal slot as L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi. At 44, Adityanath has many years to develop himself as a major UP leader, provided he succeeds in running a good government and ensures Modi’s re-election in 2019 with the same numbers as the BJP won in 2014.

Adityanath’s appointment is not the only signal to Rajnath that his innings is over. Other Thakurs who sat on the margins for a long time during the Rajnath era in the BJP have been promoted this time as cabinet ministers in Adityanath’s government. Two prominent faces are Jai Pratap Singh and Chetan Chauhan.

Sycophancy in BJP

The BJP is heading the way of the Congress, AIADMK and other parties where personality cults flourish. The latest signal of this is the appearance of Modi’s picture on the BJP flag that party leaders fly on their cars.

One such car belonging to a BJP MP was spotted in Parliament last week. The flag had the party symbol, the lotus flower, with a huge picture of Modi next to it. Till the UP victory, BJP leaders used to fly only the party flag with the lotus flower displayed prominently.

BJP MPs seem to be heading the way of AIADMK leaders. AIADMK leaders have always carried Jayalalitha’s photograph in the breast pocket of their shirt. Since their shirts are made of fine khadi, the material is quite transparent. It makes the photo visible to all. Now, after Jaya’s death and Sasikala’s takeover, the latter’s photo has been added on the card, next to that of Jayalalitha.

Congress leaders do not display their loyalty on their chest or cars but every single hoarding, poster or ad always carries pictures of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.

UP on the menu

After his massive win in UP, Modi has brought flavours of his adopted state into his official residence. MPs from UP who met the PM over breakfast last week were pleasantly surprised to find UP fare on the menu.
They were served stuffed paranthas, aloo-poori and pakoras. Gujarati breakfast snacks and sandwiches were also on the table as usual. This was the first time that the menu included the cuisine of a state other than Modi’s home state. The PM may well be on his way to making UP his karmabhoomi. After all, the state has produced eight of the country’s 14 prime ministers.

Foes, then friends

The West Bengal Congress was the first to hit the streets demanding a probe into the Narada sting operation which claimed that some Trinamool Congress MPs and MLAs had accepted bribes.
Yet, last week, the party’s top three lawyers were defending the TMC in the Supreme Court. The West Bengal government of Mamata Banerjee retained Kapil Sibal, Abhishekh Singhvi and P Chidambaram, all Congress Rajya Sabha MPs, to represent it in the apex court which was hearing a petition demanding a CBI  inquiry into what is popularly known as the Narada scam.

The Congress MPs are among the country’s top legal eagles but they failed to convince the court to stop the CBI inquiry. Interestingly, it was the Congress in West Bengal that first highlighted the Narada tapes just before the state assembly election in 2016. The party made the tapes the central theme of its campaign against Mamata Banerjee but the allegations didn’t harm her politically. The TMC returned with an even bigger majority than it won in 2011.

Now, of course, the Congress high command and Mamata seem to have buried the hatchet to cooperate on the anti-demonetisation campaign. This is why the party top three legal brains stepped in to aid Mamata.