Welcome to The Political Fix by Rohan Venkataramakrishnan, a newsletter on Indian politics and policy. To get it in your inbox every week,...
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The Big Story: Command and control
Last week, the national spotlight turned towards West Bengal and the sight of Union Home Minister Amit Shah welcoming a host of Trinamool Congress leaders into his party, a political tactic that was once derided but is now usually taken as a sign of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s success in regions where it has no significant leadership. But in Karnakata, a very different story was playing out.
There too, a top BJP leader was visiting, and the ensuing conversations were about how long the chief minister would stay in power. The only difference was that National Secretary Bhupendra Yadav was visiting unannounced. And the chief minister in question is from his own party, BS Yediyurappa.
“Yadav’s visit was kept secret and senior party functionaries had no clue,” one anonymous BJP member told the Times of India.
Arun Singh, who is in charge of Karnataka at the national level, said he had “no idea why Bhupendra Yadav...
