PM Narendra Modi taking lunch with MPs (Image credit X @narendramodi)
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, February 24: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is believed to have slipped behind the electoral steering wheel of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Informed sources said that Modi is seeking to nudge leading lights of the BJP to come out of their comfort zones and plunge into electoral politics.
Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah had built a team of trusted lieutenants since his days as president of the BJP. Several of them became ministers after Shah took the number three slot in the Modi Cabinet. A few of his acolytes called the shots while staying out of the Modi Cabinet. They have been widely believed to be the constituents of the inner circle of Shah.
They, incidentally, belong to the Rajya Sabha Club of the BJP. Even after Shah switched from the Rajya Sabha to the Lok Sabha in 2019 after the BJP patriarch LK Advani gave up the Gandhinagar parliamentary constituency, his acolytes held fort in the comforts of the Rajya Sabha. But now they are bracing up for life beyond the Rajya Sabha, and seek people’s endorsements to justify their clouts in the high corridors of power.
The Union Ministers – Dharmendra Pradhan, Bhupender Yadav, Puroshottam Rupala, Mansukh Madaviya – are widely known as Amit Shah acolytes. Anil Baluni, the head of the media team of the BJP, and Anil Jain, the former general secretary (national), are also believed to be the key constituents of the inner circle of the Union Minister for Home Affairs.
These six shadows of Shah are now faced with challenges to win Lok Sabha elections if they want to return to parliament, informed sources revealed. Except for Pradhan, none of them have past experience of contesting Lok Sabha elections. Pradhan, incidentally, was a Lok Sabha MP from Deogarh between 2004 and 2009. This parliamentary constituency was afterwards abolished.
Pradhan is now toiling hard in the Sambhalpur parliamentary constituency in Odisha. He is hopeful that the people may help him win the Lok Sabha elections. But he is not taking any chances. His offices in the constituency have long been in top gears to connect with the electorate.
Yadav is believed to be Shah’s top aide in political matters. He was previously an Arun Jaitely acolyte. Yadav completed two terms in the Rajya Sabha. He too has to contest the Lok Sabha poll, added the informed sources. They further informed that Yadav is already nursing the Mahendargarh parliamentary constituency in Haryana.
Baluni, journalist-turned-politician, is also now tasked to find a parliamentary constituency for himself in Uttarakhand. He had just one term in the Rajya Sabha. Along with Rupala and Madaviya, Baluni may hope that the ‘Modi magic’ will blow in Uttarakhand also on the pattern of Gujarat to help him gain an easy access back in parliament. If that is not the case, then Baluni may have to fight off several foes within the ranks of the BJP who may detest his contesting elections. Anil Jain looks at an uncertain future as he may have to seek a Lok Sabha seat from Chhattisgarh which is a tough electoral background for the BJP.
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