An interesting tussle is emerging between Sharad Pawar and Mamata Banerjee for leadership of the anti-Modi opposition front. The tussle was most apparent in the behind-the-scenes politics over the impeachment motion against Chief Justice of India Dipak MIsra.

Pawar was at the forefront of the decision to go ahead with the motion. Mamata was on the opposite side, trying to stop the motion. Each had their own reasons but the net result was both trying to outdo the other in drumming up support of other opposition parties for their respective positions.

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Despite former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s veto, the Congress decided to go along with Pawar on the issue and enlisted his services to rope in other parties. On the other side, Mamata was lobbying with the same parties to dissuade them from signing on to the impeachment move.

It was this tussle that delayed the motion till after Parliament adjourned. Some parties like SP and DMK changed their minds several times and let confusion prevail over their stand.

So who won the tussle – Mamata or Pawar? Well, Pawar managed to rope in the Left Parties, the Muslim League and most importantly, SP and BSP, taking the total of parties in favour of the impeachment motion to seven. Pawar is known to enjoy excellent rapport with SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. He also has a rapport with BSP chief Mayawati, which is not so well known. He managed to prevail on both to sign the motion.

Mamata, on the other hand, managed to keep the DMK with her. This is partly due to the fact that Pawar does not have a rapport with DMK chief M Karunanidhi. He is known to have been closer to the late AIADMK boss Jayalalithaa, which is part of the reason he never developed a relationship with Karunanidhi.

According to the political grapevine, Mamata reached out to the DMK and convinced them that an impeachment motion which would pit Parliament against the judiciary, would only erode democratic institutions further.

Interestingly, she also managed to keep parties like AAP and BJD away from the controversy. Political observers say the Pawar-Mamata tussle has ended in a draw in this round.

They also say that the tussle will not affect the prospect of a combined opposition fight against Modi in 2019. In fact, Mamata has accepted Pawar’s argument that the Congress has to be included in the efforts for opposition unity.

Suriname outreach

As President Ram Nath Kovind prepares for his next foreign tour to Surinam and other Caribbean countries in June, an interesting side event is being planned. Apparently, Suriname is keen for India to help plan a Durga Puja celebration for its Indian origin citizens.

At least 26% of Suriname citizens have Indian ancestry. Most of them are of Bihari and east UP origin. However, many migrated from Kolkata and are therefore heavily influenced by Bengali culture.

The Modi government has eagerly seized the opportunity and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations is busy making preparations to take Durga Puja to Suriname. The Durga idols and other trappings will all go from Kolkata. There is also a plan to hold a Bengali food festival and musical evenings of Rabindra Sangeet.

The India-Suriname cultural mela has already started with the Press Club in Delhi hosting a Suriname evening. Bhojpuri singers from Suriname entertained a large audience that included the country’s ambassador to India, Ashana Kanhai.

Kovind will be meeting Suriname citizens of Indian origin during his visit. Remember, most of them hail from UP and Bihar with many UPwallahs migrating from Kovind’s own Kanpur region.

Scholarly pursuits

Former JD(U) MP Pavan Varma has made good use of his time after he retired from the Rajya Sabha. He has written a book on Adi Shankaracharya, Hinduism’s Greatest Thinker.

Varma presented the first copy of his book to President Kovind on Shankaracharya’s birth anniversary. The speakers at the function were an interesting and eclectic lot. Apart from Varma and the President, Murli Manohar Joshi of the BJP and D P Tripathi of the NCP also spoke.

Each speech was unique and interesting but Tripathi probably stole the show with a fiery quote from the Urdu poet Firaq at the end of his speech. The quote was even appreciated by the President who gave DPT a hearty round of applause.

The President himself was not lacking in eloquence and wit and he joked about the craze for “prime time” instead of scholarly work.

Worried Vasundhara

Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje is a worried woman ever since her loyalist Ashok Parnami was made to resign from the post of state party president following the BJP’s defeat in the recent Lok Sabha bypolls in the state.

She flew into Delhi last week to meet Amit Shah, hoping to get an indication of what’s going on in his mind about a successor for Parnami. Obviously, Shah did not oblige her because while she flew back to Jaipur, she has left behind a band of loyalists to keep tabs on what is going on in the “high command’’.

It seems Shah is keen to use the bye-poll defeat and removal of Parnami to install a new state chief who will listen to him rather than Vasundhara. Among the names doing the rounds are those of union ministers of state Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Arjun Ram Meghwal. Vasundhara’s choice is said to be a minister in her government, Shrikhand Kripalani.

What is worrying Vasundhara the most is that if Shah’s loyalist become state chief, she will lose control over ticket distribution in the upcoming assembly polls. The signals from Karnataka must be of deep concern. Shah denied a ticket to B S Yeddyurappa’s son, B Y Raghavendra, even though Yeddyurappa is the party’s chief ministerial face. It was Shah’s way of showing who is boss.