Shwanika narayan

Three-time Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Narayan Chandel will be the new Leader of Opposition in the Chhattisgarh Assembly, said the party on August 17.

Mr. Chandel (57) represents the Janjgir-Champa Assembly constituency and has been a deputy speaker of the State Assembly. He comes from the powerful Kurmi caste and replaces Dharamlal Kaushik.

“I am honoured that the party has chosen me to lead the legislative party leader. The goal is clear – to uproot the Congress government led by Mr. Bhupesh Baghel and continue to fight against its policies both inside the House and on the streets,” said Mr. Chandel, after his name was formally announced at the party’s State headquarters, Kushabhau Thakre Parisar.

The announcement was made during a meeting attended by all MLAs, MPs and senior leaders of the State unit. BJP’s state in-charge D. Purandeswari was also present at the meeting.

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Chhattisgarh BJP gets new president

“Look devoid of past baggage”

The move comes a week after the party appointed new State president, Arun Sao. This signifies the party’s intent of “focusing heavily on the other backward classes (OBC) vote bank” and presents a “fresh look devoid of any baggage or controversies from the past” in a crucial election year, said sources close to the party.

Mr. Sao comes from the Sahu community, which is the largest constituent under the OBC umbrella. Kurmis, a caste from which Mr. Chandel and Mr. Kaushik both come, forming the second-largest OBC vote bank.

“The party is wary of the fact that Chief Minister Mr. Baghel also comes from the Kurmi caste and hopes that having a Sahu-Kurmi combination at the top will consolidate the OBC vote bank. It also assures the smaller [non-Sahu, non-Kurmi ] OBC groups that proper representation would be given,” said a source, adding that more changes in the organisational set up – from the youth wing to women’s wing at the State level – were in the offing.

OBC-centric strategy

With only 14 members in the current Assembly and senior MLAs like Mr. Kaushik or former Chief Minister Dr. Raman Singh out of contention, the party had few choices and added an MLA who attended the meeting. Mr. Kaushik was replaced despite being a Kurmi as he came from the same Bilaspur district as Mr. Sao, and the party’s national leadership felt he needed to be more aggressive in taking on the government.

It is learnt that the names of senior MLAs Ajay Chandrakar, and Shivratan Sharma were also discussed. However, since Mr. Chandrakar was appointed as the party’s chief spokesperson recently, it was unlikely that he would make the cut, said the MLA.

Sources further added that the challenge for the party with this OBC-centric strategy would be placating the tribal leadership that constitutes nearly 33% of Chhattisgarh’s electorate. Mr. Sao had replaced Vishnu Deo Sai, a tribal. There is also a buzz around appointing a working president post to address this situation.

Meanwhile, following Mr. Chandel’s appointment, the Congress, too, accused the BJP of sidelining tribals in the party, asking why it did not choose Nanki Ram Kanwar, a senior MLA and a former minister, as the leader of Opposition. Party State President Mohan Markam also questioned the BJP’s move to get rid of the baggage of its 15-year-rule by replacing those close to former CM Raman Singh [Mr. Kaushik is perceived as one of them]. “BJP is being delusional if it thinks that it can make people forget about the misrule and corruption of that regime. They are making an unsuccessful bid at doing away with Dr. Raman Singh’s legacy by sidelining some people,” said Mr. Markam.

“The party is wary of the fact that Chief Minister Mr. Baghel also comes from the Kurmi caste and hopes that having a Sahu-Kurmi combination at the top will consolidate the OBC vote bank” Source

‘He has to listen to his body and his mind and he decided to leave politics.’

Impressed by his eloquence, the late Congress leader K Kamaraj called him ‘Tamilaruvi’. Aruvi means spring in Tamil.

Tamilaruvi Manian , a former Congressman and lawyer, was the founder of the Gandhi Makkal Iyakkam. He has now changed the Gandhi Makkal Iyakkam to Kamaraj Makkal Katchi, a political party.

When Rajinikanth decided to launch a political party he asked Tamilaruvi Manian to organise the party. The movie superstar’s political plans did not take off because of Rajinikanth’s ill-health.

On Monday, August 7, 2022, Tamil Nadu’s political circles were agog with speculation after Rajinikanth met state Governor Ravindra Narayan Ravi — with who the DMK government has been engaged in recent skirmishes — a day after returning from New Delhi.

‘Yes, we discussed politics and several things which can’t be revealed to you,’ Rajinikanth told reporters when asked if politics was discussed during his meeting with Ravi.

“Rajinikanth wanted to establish good governance,” Tamilaruvi Manian, who has been in Tamil Nadu politics for 40 years, tells Rediff.com ‘s A Ganesh Nadar .

You were going to organise the party for Rajinikanth. How exactly were you going to organise a party from scratch?

When I first spoke to Rajinikanth about this, he told me that the system is spoilt; we have to change the system.

He wanted to start a political party to change the entire system.

To organise the party I decided to first form booth committees. Tamil Nadu has 234 constituencies and each has 300 booths. Forming booth committees is very important.

Both the DMK and the AIADMK have it and no other party has it.

He wanted 20 members in every booth committee and I decided that 10 members were enough. We formed booth committees all over the state.

While other parties used these committees only during the elections, we decided that our committees would be active throughout the year to serve the people.

What difference do you think Rajinikanth could have made to the assembly elections in 2021?

We would have won it and formed the government.

His decision to throw in the towel, quit electoral politics must have come as a shock to you.

We worked for three years. I was shocked, but his health was weak.

There was the Covid pandemic; he has a kidney problem so he has less immunity.

He has to listen to his body and his mind and he decided to leave politics. We were all shocked.

Was he under pressure from other parties not to join politics, lest the votes get split?

No! Not to my knowledge.

He sounded quite politically naive with his utterances. Was he really naive?

Rajinikanth is a good person. He wanted to establish good governance. For that, he wanted honest and experienced people from all sectors included IAS and IPS officers.

He had teased his followers for such a long time about his political entry. Who do you think they ended up supporting in the elections? The BJP?

Rajinikanth fans liked to watch his movies and loved him as their hero. Members of his fan clubs belonged to all political parties.

His fans were voting for different parties and they must have continued to do so.

The BJP has 4 MLAs in Tamil Nadu. Where do you see the BJP in the future in Tamil Nadu?

It is a fantasy that they will grow in Tamil Nadu. They have no chance without an alliance.

It is doubtful that they would have won even these 4 if they had stood on their own.

They have only a 3% vote share. They cannot go far here in Tamil Nadu politics.

Will the growth of the BJP in Tamil Nadu be at the expense of the AIADMK?

It is possible if the EPS, OPS, and Sasikala problems continue.

The cadre will be upset and the BJP will try to get them to join their party.

Will the BJP find an Eknath Shinde in Tamil Nadu?

Never! The DMK is a strong integrated party. It is not easy to disturb such a party.

Except for the DMK and AIADMK other parties have not been able to grow in Tamil Nadu. Why?

The DMK started in 1949. They drew on the strength of Periyar and the Justice Party before that.

In 1967 they were able to win the elections on oratory and hard work. Their focus on the Tamil language helped the DMK grow.

Annadurai attracted the city voter and the village voter was attracted by MGR.

The women voters were also with MGR and then with Jayalalitha.

You must keep in mind that there are 50% women voters.

The DMK has been growing in the cities and the AIADMK has been growing in the villages.

Other parties did not have such charismatic leaders.

You have known Kamaraj rule and the rule of Dravidian governments. What is the difference you have seen?

There was no corruption during Kamaraj rule. The government worked for the welfare of the people.

Even today ‘Good Governance’ means Kamaraj rule. Kamaraj worked for the people.

Now it is only corruption. They are working either for themselves or for their family.

Do you feel that there is any difference in the governments led by the DMK and the AIADMK?

There is no difference in governance. But as a party, the DMK has an ideology. The AIADMK is a personality-oriented party.

With Karunanidhi on one side and MGR followed by Jayalalitha on the other side, it was a battle of equals. What chance do you think EPS (former TN CM Edappadi Palaniswamy) has against Stalin (the TN CM)?

Karunanidhi was a strong leader, MGR and Jayalalitha had charisma, they too were very strong leaders.

Karunanidhi has trained Stalin for years. He has learned from his father and is following in his footsteps in governance.

There is no EPS versus Stalin now. It is EPS versus OPS ( former TN CM O Panneerselvam ) versus Sasikala. They are bent on destroying the party.

What do you plan to achieve with your Kamaraj Makkal Katchi?

In Tamil Nadu, there is a habit of cash for votes. We want to change that.

We want a corruption-free government. For this, we are going to make an example of Kamaraj rule.

The younger generation does not know about Kamaraj rule. We are going to every village with this message.

Kamaraj emphasised education and agriculture. He built so many dams.

A corruption-free government is possible only if we can establish Kamaraj rule.

Will you be standing for elections? Will you be allying with other parties?

We have to first establish our party. We have to get people to join our party.

We already have 300,000 members and we are aiming for 1 million members.

We will think of elections after that. Other parties who support the idea of ‘Kamaraj rule’ can join us.

If your party stands for elections, can we expect Rajinikanth to support you? Are you still in touch with him?

We continue to be friends today. I told him when I changed our Gandhi Makkal Iyakkam to Kamaraj Makkal Katchi.

I cannot comment on whether he will support us when we stand for elections now.

Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/ Rediff.com

The Madras High Court on Tuesday agreed to an urgent hearing of a batch of cases filed by some deemed universities and self financing medical colleges against the National Medical Commission’s (NMC) insistence that they must collect only the fees collected in government medical colleges from 50% of their students.

Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari accepted a request made by senior counsel Vijay Narayan, representing Education Promotion Society for India, a body of various educational institutions, to hear the matter on Wednesday since the fees determination committees in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry might notify the fees any time.

The first Division Bench comprising the Chief Justice and Justice N. Mala had heard the matter partly last week and decided to continue the hearing on Tuesday. However, the second judge in the Bench availed leave and hence the Chief Justice sat along with Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy on Tuesday.

Mr. Narayan told the Chief Justice he would require only half an hour to complete his arguments following which senior counsel P.S. Raman, representing Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, and AR.L. Sundaresan, representing an institution from Puducherry, would argue the matter.

However, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) R. Sankaranarayanan told the court he was flying out of the State on Wednesday afternoon and hence the matter could be adjourned to August 23 or 24. Mr. Narayan expressed reservations over such a long adjournment citing the threat of the notification by fee determination committees.

Claiming that NMC was forcing the committees to fix the fees as per its February 3 office memorandum, which was under challenge before the court, he urged the court to restrain the committees from issuing the notifications. However, the ASG told the court that those committees were constituted by the State government.

After hearing both of them, the judges decided to hear the matter between 12 noon and 1:30 pm on Wednesday since the ASG would be available in the court till the forenoon session.