Wordsmiths & Newsplumbers

BY R.K.MISRA Ironies abound. Gujarat the grand-dad of liquor prohibition in India is seeking stringent laws to curb drinking as done by baby Bihar, the latest anti-booze crusader state. The issue has become a magnet uniting anti-BJP groups to take on the Gujarat government which has been lurching from one stir to another in a state slated to go to polls next year. The emerging caste configuration came to the fore early this month when a  joint rally of OBCs and dalits with support from the patels was held in the state capital and demanded the implementation of a stringent Bihar like anti-liquor prohibition policy in Gujarat. The rally saw the emergence of a new political axis in the state with the dalits and OBCs sharing a platform and Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti(PAAS) of Hardik Patel voicing it’s  support to the congregation. The muslims have already announced their support to the dalits. Such a show of force in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state seeking

BY R.K.MISRA Cats stalk quietly and wolves prey in packs but why is the behemoth of a BJP getting paranoid over antsy Aam Admi Party(AAP)and barking up all manner of trees? Quite simply, because it’s iron clasp grip on Gujarat is slipping and a queasy national party leadership is stuck for options to reverse the trend. AAP, analysts say, is set to make impressive  gains in Punjab and Goa and this will majorly impact election results in Gujarat which goes to polls  in the last quarter of 2017.A mere foot-in-the door is all that AAP needs in the prime minister’s home state to make  ants crawl up the pants of the NDA government in the 2019 general elections. A panic stricken goliath is even mulling the ultimate option of early elections in Gujarat along with UP and Punjab, more to stretch AAP to oblivion than to run the Congress out of reckoning. While BJP president Amit Shah has asked the state party leadership to get into poll mode post haste, the Congress, marinated by Mo