Veteran BJP leader Sushma Swaraj has written the BJP president expressing her desire to continue to hold the post of Leader of Opposition even in the next Lok Sabha. Swaraj had taken over this post in 2009 and has earned plaudits for doing a stellar job from all quarters, especially the ruling UPA. However, despite her best efforts, it appears that the BJP might come to power and she could be staring at a long winter in power.

Of late, Sushma has been giving even AAP leaders a run for their money with her vocal, sanctimonious opposition to the entry of tainted leaders into the saffron camp:

I want to make it absolutely clear that B.Sriramulu has been admitted in the party despite my stiff opposition. — Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwarajbjp) March 14, 2014

And this after she herself was alleged to have been the matron saint to the infamous Reddy brothers, a U turn of Kejriwalesque proportions:

Swaraj’s bid to continue as leader of opposition got a shot in the arm after Sonia Gandhi endorsed her in glowing terms. “Chinamma and I have established a close working relationship, our past differences notwithstanding,” Sonia wrote in her letter of recommendation to Rajnath Singh. “I am especially grateful to her for pushing through the Telangana bill without any discussion on the floor of the House. Despite her being a BJP member, I am fully confident that she will do a fine job in highlighting the deficiencies of the Modi led NDA government, perhaps much better than even we can. Anyway, Rahul baba will be taking off on a looooong vacation after the elections and as far as we are concerned, Chinamma will be our leader in the next Lok Sabha.”

With Sushma adamant that she won’t take up a ministry and will prefer sitting in the Opposition benches, the BJP leadership has reconciled itself to the inevitable. “We have told Modiji to brush up on his sher-shayari and some economics gobbledygook on price rise by way of preparing for verbal jousts with Sushmaji on the floor of the House,” BJP president Rajnath Singh told The UnReal Times.