oppn parties JP Nadda: The Man Of The Moment For The BJP

News Snippets

  • Supreme Court questions the continuing relevance of two-child norms. The Court observed that falling fertility rates have weakened the population-control rationale behind laws disqualifying people with more than two children from contesting local body elections. It referred the issue to a larger Bench for consideration
  • Supreme Court declines to shift Tirupati laddu case outside Andhra Pradesh. The Court rejected a plea seeking transfer of the trial, despite arguments that political statements by Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister could affect the fairness of proceedings
  • Supreme Court transfers Azam Khan's fresh ED bail plea to Allahabad High Court. The apex court declined to consider the Samajwadi Party leader's bail request in a fresh Enforcement Directorate case and directed that it be listed before a division Bench of the High Court on November 16
  • Two killed in Delhi building collapse; contractor booked. Two bodies were recovered after a building collapsed in Chawri Bazaar. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the contractor had been booked and the concerned junior and assistant engineers suspended
  • Uttar Pradesh voter rolls show a 2.4-crore discrepancy. A difference of approximately 2.4 crore names has been reported between the state's panchayat and rural Assembly voter lists. The Election Commission has ordered the two sets of rolls to be matched
  • Gujarat announces 3% dearness allowance hike. The state government announced a three-percentage-point increase in dearness allowance for government employees and pensioners ahead of Diwali
  • Sensex and Nifty post their strongest single-day gains in months. The Sensex surged 2,008.61 points, or 2.60%, to close at 79,310.01, while the Nifty 50 climbed 576 points, or 2.40%, to 24,536.60. Financial and automobile stocks led the rally, supported by falling crude prices and renewed foreign investor buying
  • Maaya Rajeshwaran reaches WTA-level quarter-final. The 17-year-old Indian defeated Poland's Weronika Falkowska 6-4, 6-3, becoming the first Indian woman since Sania Mirza in 2012 to reach a quarter-final at a WTA Tour-level singles event
  • Tanvi Patri reaches Youth Olympics badminton final. The 15-year-old defeated Japan's Yuzuno Watanabe in the semi-final, assuring India of a medal and becoming the first Indian badminton player to reach the girls' singles final at the Youth Olympics
  • India beat Pakistan 3-2 in SAFF Championship. India defeated Pakistan in a closely contested match, having led 3-0 before conceding two late goals. The victory was reported as a significant result for India's second-string side
  • India beat Japan 4-1 to win a record sixth Asian Champions Trophy. India recovered from an early deficit to defeat Japan in the final at Mohali, extending its record as the tournament's most successful men's team
  • The Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre and the Election Commission on a petition challenging Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which grants the CEC and Election Commissioners protection from legal proceedings for acts performed in their official duties. The petition argues that such blanket immunity could leave citizens without an effective remedy for alleged wrongdoing by the Commission
  • The Supreme Court told voters whose names were deleted from Delhi's draft electoral rolls not to be apprehensive about seeking re-enrolment through Form 6, after the Election Commission assured it that such applicants would not be prosecuted merely because their names had appeared in earlier rolls
  • Congress leader Rahul Gandhi opened the party's campaign for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections with an Insaaf rally in Sangrur, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's home district, accusing the AAP government of failing to control drugs, gangster violence and corruption. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge outlined six commitments, including a drug-free Punjab, protection of farmers, employment for young people and action against corruption
  • Rahul Gandhi accused the AAP government of running Punjab through a remote control from Delhi and questioned Bhagwant Mann's ability to tackle drug abuse, making personal allegations about the Chief Minister's conduct during their time together in Parliament
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JP Nadda: The Man Of The Moment For The BJP

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2020-01-22 08:05:07

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

Although JP Nadda has been elected unopposed as the new president of the BJP, only time will tell if he will really wield the power as the party chief or if he has been elevated just to show the world that the party adheres to the one-man, one-post rule and will not make an exception even for Amit Shah. There is no doubt that Shah had really made the party a fighting unit with presence all over India and he will not want the position to deteriorate or change, especially as the party faces multiple challenges in seeking to push its controversial agenda aggressively in its second term.

Even as the economy is in doldrums and the BJP has been losing in state elections and facing the heat from its allies, the country has seen massive protests over the NRC/NPR/CAA issues. Since NRC and CAA have been part of the party manifesto for a long time and both Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah show no signs of backing off, Nadda has the unenviable task of steering the party at a time when its stock is on a downward spiral.

As the BJP was losing in state elections, its allies were having second thoughts on continuing with electoral alliances. The NRC/CAA fiasco has added to their fears. JD(U) in Bihar and the Akali Dal in Punjab are showing signs of going their own way. The Shiv Sena has already allied with the NCP and the Congress in Maharashtra. Nadda will have to assuage the feelings of current allies and strike new alliances if the BJP is to win in the states. The party is realizing fast that Narendra Modi's charisma is not enough to tide over local issues and caste calculations.

If things go out of hand from now on, the party will face a strong push from the RSS. Nadda's elevation will come in handy then. For, Nadda is an RSS man. He is trusted by those who matter in Nagpur. It is to the benefit of the party that he is equally trusted by both Modi and Shah. On paper, the BJP has got an ideal candidate to helm it at this crucial juncture. It remains to be seen whether he will be given a free hand or will be remote-controlled by Shah.