Express News Service
BJP’s Battle Plans
CM face in Rajasthan unlikely, Shivraj cut to size
The BJP’s organisational reshuffle and appointment of election-related committees last week sent a clear signal that the party will not project any chief ministerial candidate in Rajasthan. Sources said the appointment of former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje as national vice-president ends her chance of becoming the state election campaign committee chief, a post she reportedly covets. In a state where a party is not in power, a chief ministerial candidate generally gets one of the three posts – state party president, legislature party leader or chief of campaign committee.
Vasundhara lost out on the first two, and, according to sources, her induction as a national office-bearer has put paid to the possibility of her appointment as head of the campaign committee. The party seems set to face the election in Rajasthan without a CM face. In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP tried to counter the anti-incumbency of its state government and chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan by appointing Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar as chief of the election management committee.
Tomar is considered close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His appointment is fuelling speculation about his return to the state. It is perhaps for the first time that the BJP has given the post of election management committee chief to someone other than its sitting chief minister. The party has also deployed heavyweights like Bhupendra Yadav and Ashwini Vaishnav, both Union Ministers, to manage the MP campaign. The appointments in the two states leave little doubt that the BJP is not relying on any one face and would go into the election with a team of its top leaders leading the campaign.
Ram Idol at Ayodhya
Karnataka green stone chosen over Nepali Shaligram
Which rock should be used to sculpt the idol of Lord Ram for the temple coming up at his birthplace in Ayodhya? This question has been discussed for a long time while considering rocks from across the country and abroad and checking out some samples in Ayodhya. One such rock is from Nepal. This sacred stone from river Gandaki in Nepal is called Shaligram and is considered a form of Lord Vishnu. Lord Ram is the seventh avatar of Vishnu.
On its journey from Nepal to Ayodhya, the stone was taken to the Gorakhnath temple, headed by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath. He was reportedly keen on using this stone to carve out the lord’s idol. But sources said a final decision has been taken to use a green stone from the banks of river Tungabhadra in the Udupi district of Karnataka to make the idol to be installed in the temple’s sanctum sanctorum. Sources said convincing the chief minister about the final choice required some persuasive skills. The construction of the temple and the sculpting of the idol are going on in full swing and the Pran Pratishtha or the consecration of the temple is likely to take place in the second half of January next year.
