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A new role for Gadkari in 2019? That’s the buzz in BJP

The speculation in political circles of Union Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari being in the race for prime ministership in 2019 refuses to die down despite his repeated denials. What provided grist to the rumour mill were his recent remarks that the party leadership should own up to defeats and failures in wake of the BJP’s losses in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. The minister later clarified that the media twisted his remarks.

Clarifications and rebuttals apart, BJP circles are now abuzz with speculation about the agenda of a meeting between Gadkari, another senior cabinet minister, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and two senior RSS functionaries in Nagpur last week. Those in the know say that they met to discuss the BJP’s poor show in the three Hindi heartland states. This comes after a meeting that took place with Bhagwat in October.

Also read: BJP’s incidental connections to ‘The Accidental Prime Minister’

Ashwani Lohani’s political ambitions

Former Railway Board chairman Ashwani Lohani is keen on a post-retirement political gig. In fact, Lohani has been lobbying hard for a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha ticket from Bhopal. The 1980-batch Indian Railway Service officer is hardly even concealing his ambitions. On his day of retirement Monday, as people gathered around him at his office to bid him farewell, someone chose to directly ask him what was happening about his plans to contest from Bhopal. “Usme abhi time lagega (it will take some time),” replied Lohani promptly, confirming that it was indeed in the works.

Also read: The happiness of Congress president Rahul Gandhi at a Christmas party

Former law secretary, who shared stage with RSS, gets post-retirement gig

He may not have been granted an extension after his name figured in the case against controversial CBI officer Rakesh Asthana, but now former Union law secretary Suresh Chandra has been granted a nice post-retirement sinecure by the Narendra Modi government. Chandra, who recently shared the stage with senior RSS functionaries while he was still a government servant, has been made a member of the Central Information Commission (CIC). He was among the four new members, including the new CIC, appointed last week.

(Contributors: Maneesh Chhibber, Moushumi Das Gupta and Ruhi Tewari)

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