Although murmurs continue in the Congress asking for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to succeed Rahul as party president, she is believed to have firmly declined. A senior Congress leader used the opportunity of former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit’s funeral to sound Priyanka out about the calls for her to take over the reins of the party.

According to reliable sources, she refused point blank, saying the question does not arise. Priyanka has been very active recently. She went to Sonbhadra for a much publicised visit to meet the families of the Advisasis who were shot in cold blood over a land dispute. She has also been tweeting almost on a daily basis even from the US where she had gone for a short trip.

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Most recently, she warned the BJP on Twitter that it would pay a heavy price for destabilizing the coalition government in Karnataka. All this activity spurred speculation that she was preparing for a larger role in the party. But after word about her brief exchange with the senior leader at Dikshit’s funeral spread quickly, Congress circles are down in the dumps again. There appears to be no resolution in sight to the leadership crisis created by Rahul’s resignation.

Raja in firing line

Newly appointed CPI general secretary D Raja has become a victim of vicious trolling after he assumed the post. The unassuming, soft spoken political leader is quite disturbed by the kind of tweets coming at him on his Twitter handle. For instance, one tweet had a communal twist. It dubbed him “Daniel’’ Raja. It is so ironic because he is actually Doraisami Raja and was born into a Hindu family.

Another dragged in his daughter Aparajitha in a bid to slander Raja as the father of a member of the “tukde-tukde gang’’. Aparajitha is a PhD student of JNU and has been named in the FIR filed after the fracas in the University in 2016 at an event to mark the anniversary of Afzal Guru’s execution.

Raja is an old style gentleman and quite unused to the abusive world of Twitter trolls. He certainly never thought that becoming general secretary of the party he has served loyally for so many decades would make him a target of a below-the-belt attack from the rightwing.

Musical notes

Former Bollywood playback singer Babul Supriyo continues to be in demand for his singing talent although he is a minister in the Modi government. The pressure on him is so great that he participates in not-for-profit shows and performances regularly, when his ministerial responsibilities permit.

He has one coming up in mid- August in Surat where he will perform with Asha Bhonsle. Later in the year in October, he has a show in the US. There’s an invitation for a performance in Ireland too. Since these are not commercial shows, his participation does not violate the code of conduct for ministers.

Interestingly, Supriyo is made to sing even at official functions and political rallies. His speeches at every rally have to include a song. At official meetings too, he is always requested to wind up the proceedings with one of his popular numbers, be it in Hindi or in Bengali. Recently, he was felicitated with an award from a radio station for his Bengali songs.

Sonia lashes out

While SP chief Akhilesh Yadav refuses to be drawn into commenting on Rajya Sabha MP Niraj Shekhar’s recent defection to the BJP, Sonia Gandhi spoke her mind to the former SP leader. She is believed to have virtually admonished him for turning his back on the legacy of his famous father, late prime minister and lifelong Socialist Chandra Shekhar.

Reminding Niraj that his father was a man of principle, Sonia asked him whether he understood the gravity of what he had done. Niraj mumbled an unintelligible reply but looked suitably chastised. The former SP MP quit the party a couple of weeks ago and joined the BJP.

He resigned from the Rajya Sabha although he has 20 odd months of his term left. The buzz is that the BJP will have him re-elected in a bye-election from UP where it has a commanding majority.

In sealed cover

While Congress workers run around like headless chickens wondering who their new party president will be, general secretary (organization) Motilal Vora is believed to be sitting on a pile of sealed envelopes containing names of probable contenders. The pile is the result of an informal exercise carried out by members of the core group set up during the election campaign.

They apparently contacted all members of the extended Working Committee and asked them to name their preferred choice of successor to Rahul Gandhi. The names were put in sealed covers and handed over to Vora. The general secretary has not opened the envelopes yet.

He seems to be keeping the suspense alive. No-one knows who authorized the core committee members to conduct this exercise. They seem to have taken the initiative themselves, which is probably why Vora doesn’t dare open the sealed covers.