The prime time wild card

It’s a massive office with 20-foot-high ceiling. The mahogany desk on one side adds to the sombre atmosphere of hushed silences and austere power. An archway leads to an office meant only for secretarial staff much smaller in comparison, but big enough for several captains of industry. Walls adorned with large oil paintings of famous parliamentarians look down benignly. Behind the mahogany desk on a large green leather chair sits only the second woman to occupy that seat since Independence. It’s the office of the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, generally perceived to be the second most significant post after the Prime Minister. When Parliament is in session, Sushma Swaraj is seen more at the main gate with her fellow boycotting other members, but that does not mean she has not done her homework. On the great FDI debate in December, her research on the subject and eloquence nearly took the day. She kept it focused, talking to the country through Parliament. “Will Wal-Mart care about the poor farmer’s sister’s wedding? Will Wal-Mart send his children to school? Will Wal-Mart notice his tears and hunger?” Her speech stirred the Lohiaites and was more convincing than the Left. In the end, 14 parties stood behind her. The vote was lost by a whisker, but an evolving reputation was clad in iron.

At the investors’ meet that took place in November 2012 in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, her home state now, she arrived a little late as her flight had been delayed. Speeches by industrial leaders and politicians were immediately put on hold and a small wooden stool pushed behind the lectern for her to stand on. There were smiles all around. A stool is kept handy when Swaraj must make a speech. Most people are surprised when they first see Swaraj. She is petite—less than five feet—but her school headmistress demeanour makes everyone else appear a nursery kid, looking up at her. She loves to make small talk in informal settings with people around her and never forgets to ask the well-being of family members if she happens to have met them. At smaller,I thought it would be fun to show you the inspiration behind the broken china-mosaics. cosier ladies’ sangeet-type family functions she is unafraid of shaking a leg, though it dusted up a little wind at Raj Ghat when she danced to a patriotic number.

The Shiv Sena is convinced of her ability to connect,We specializes in rapid plastic injection mould and molding of parts for prototypes and production. and lead the NDA alliance. There are others who believe Narendra Modi could be that person. The party itself does not want a debate on the issue right now. An exasperated Rajnath Singh recently said: “This is the last time I am asking BJP leaders to desist from making any comments on BJP’s prime ministerial candidate.” But the issue will come up sooner rather than later with May 2014 not very far away and it will all come down to the ability to keep alliance partners happy.

The Jaipur conclave of the Congress, meanwhile, has made it clear that it is looking around for partners and tie-ups. Some of the current parties in the UPA fold may leave, like the TMC. It may have to look around for newer ones, preferably those currently aligned with the NDA, on the possibility of shared secular agendas. “The Congress would be most happy to take on Modi as it may lead to fissure in the NDA with the JD(U) opting out a distinct possibility. The SP and BSP may also be forced to junk their neutral outside-support stance,” says a Congress veteran. The mood at 24 Akbar Road is that Swaraj would be a tougher opponent with her appeal cutting across sections and communities.

That drama will unfold in coming months, but the Swaraj story looks set to get bigger,Laser engravers and laser engraving machine systems and supplies to start your own lasering cutting engraving marking etching business. and within the BJP first. Not since Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia have there been so many woman leaders of substance in the party—Uma Bharti, Vasundhara Raje and Sushma Swaraj. They have all taken different stairwells to the top. Bharti was the maverick firebrand who led the Ram Janmabhoomi movement till her first brush with serious power destabilised her and she stumbled. Raje, the Maharani, took her time but came into her own about 10 years ago when she led the BJP to power in Rajasthan, and though she missed a step later, she is back in saddle and ready to propel the party to power in her state. Swaraj’s of course has been the most significant success so far.

In the hype and hoopla and downslide games that have engaged the BJP and its leaders lately, Swaraj appears to have survived in the best shape. She’s fine-tuned her knack for saying the right thing at the right time in the right place, be it the FDI debate, an election in Gujarat, or politely refusing to become BJP president.

It first emerged in the media that L K Advani had floated her name as possible BJP president to replace Nitin Gadkari when it became clear that corruption allegations would sink his boat. “Advaniji had only said that there are suitable replacements. Two options are Sushma and Rajnath, and if the former is accepted then Leaders of Opposition in both Houses will have to be changed,” says a senior BJP party office-bearer. Sensing this was not be the right time to accept the job, Swaraj quietly told Advani of her reluctance, and later conveyed it to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat as well.

She has consciously played on the right side of the RSS on all issues, sending a consistent message to Nagpur which is sometimes considered overly gender-sensitive in assigning roles. Throughout the past six months when the Sarsanghchalak was insistent that his nominee Nitin Gadkari be given a second term, she kept a calculated middle-of-the-road stance: never a word against the RSS line and still never seen to be against those opposed to Gadkari. It’s marvellous political posturing when everyone considers you “safe” including man of the moment Modi. At an election rally in Vadodara, she announced unequivocally: “Modiji mein woh sab qualities hain jo ek Prime Minister mein honi chahiye” (Modiji has those qualities which a prime minister should have). Others in the party are at the moment ambivalent on the subject, in accordance with a keep mum policy. “She is the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and that in itself should be a pointer towards what the party expects from her,” says Prabhat Jha who has worked closely with Vajpayee and was till recently the BJP president of the Madhya Pradesh unit.

Raje, presently locked in a fierce intra-party struggle for supremacy within Rajasthan, may emerge with her stature enhanced by December if she delivers. She has the backing of Rajnath which saw her back in saddle as the state unit chief. That makes the equation interesting. Her appeal is quite unlike Swaraj’s though the base is as wide. Having won four Lok Sabha elections and been a Union minister, at 50 she acquired a common touch to lead a BJP resurgence in Rajasthan as she tirelessly travelled the dusty roads to annex the Jaipur crown. Her regal persona, the expensive sarees and jewellery only enhance her appeal in a curious inversion of what makes Swaraj tick. Outside the state and at BJP national executives, she is perhaps the only one signing autographs!

Most opinion polls over the past six months show her several points ahead of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. She will, of course, have to battle expectations as well. The BJP not only expects her to topple Gehlot with a clear majority but also deliver 20 of the 25 Lok Sabha seats. If that happens it could make her one of the most powerful sub-group leaders within the BJP, almost at par with Modi.

Swaraj’s breakthrough moment had come when she was nominated to Rajya Sabha in 1990 and moved out of state politics. BJP was riding the Ram Mandir wave. Bharti and Advani were on its crest but the think-tank was also planning for the long term. As education minister in Haryana, she had impressed the RSS and Advani. Her stock went further up with the advent of 24-hour television.

Some politicians like to contest this but the coming of 24-hour television in 1992 shaped and reshaped the careers of many. Swaraj was a natural and almost made for TV. Her bindi-sindoor clicked with the viewing class with its new-found love for the saas-bahu shows.Compare prices and buy all brands of solar panel for home power systems and by the pallet. Judgments based on appearance, likeability and intelligent sound bites started pouring in fast. “She was the best bahu on view though sometimes overshadowed by the aggression of Bharti,” says a long-time associate. Nevertheless it helped her leapfrog over her contemporaries and shed the confines of state politics. She was sent to the affluent South Delhi constituency with arguably the most cable homes in the country in 1996 and 1998 before she briefly became Delhi chief minister in 1998. In 1999 she took up the legendary Bellary challenge against the Congress’s Sonia Gandhi. All along she knew that her stature would be enhanced even in loss.

Television, in fact, might have thrown up some more interesting names among women leaders in the wake of Swaraj becoming the most serious candidate for the top job since Indira Gandhi. These women are expected to evolve over the next few years and none seems to be more promising than Smriti Irani, 36. The other is Nirmala Sitharaman.

Irani rode the Tulsi avatar to land in the party of her choice, but Advani sees in her the same potential that he once saw in Bharti and Swaraj in their younger days. Advani’s ability to pick winner is proven. The mere mention of Irani’s name in his book My Country My Life served as a red carpet rolled out for her right into top echelons of 11 Ashoka Road. She now heads the Mahila Morcha and is a Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat. Former journalist Sitharaman, 54, of course is now better known than when she was as a member of National Women’s Commission. Her combative stance on issues on national television are significant signs of a developing thought leader within the party.

The Women’s Reservation Bill, which Sonia’s own partymen are believed to be buttonholing from behind the curtains,How cheaply can I build a solar power systems? if passed may lead to a flood of more women leaders emerging from the grassroots. It is also believed that the BJP might be better prepared if the Bill indeed becomes a reality. It has actively built a cadre of women leaders both at the national and the state levels. Some states have even held taluka-level meetings of Mahila Morcha regularly in an attempt to not only multiply the voter base but find leaders from the grassroots. In comparison Congress is still dependent on family heiresses, widows and wives.