Gadkari visits Munda but heels coalition

VIJAY DEO JHA

RANCHI

It was handshake largely seen as an attempt to minimize the shock that once rocked the coalition boat; even disturbing trust template between the BJP and the JMM during and after the Rajya Sabha elections.

National BJP president Nitin Gadkari and Deputy Chief Minister Hemant Soren had this handshake moment twice, on Sunday, without clamour of attention and pops of the flashbulbs.

Gadkari along with party’s national general secretary Vijay Goyal and Kiran Maheswari visited Chief Minister Arjun Munda on Sunday who is recovering after sustaining injuries during chopper crash and later admitted in Apollo Hospital. Conspicuously, Soren arrived moments before Gadkari reached at the Apollo to receive him. Gadkari along with Soren stayed for around 20 minutes with Munda and expressed satisfaction over his recovery. Neither the place nor the moment was convenient even for light political discussion.

Sources having privy to that meeting said: “Gadkariji inquired about the health of Chief Minister and he was particularly pleased to find Soren alongside Mundaji and had a warm handshake. It was a not a mere handshake…it was political gesture by both to rebuff reports of rift between the coalition partners after the Rajya Sabha elections.”

There were instances and episodes outside to suggest it. Though, both Soren and Gadkari did not offer anything for political consumption over the functioning of the government and understanding of the coalition partners except saying that any report of misunderstanding and grudge was unfounded. Soren rather insisted to accompany Gadkari to the airport in his car where they had detailed talk over strengthening coalition tie and running the government smoothly.

“Gadkari’s visit has energized the party and strengthened the government further,” state BJP president Dineshnanda Goswami told The Pioneer later on.   

“Soren was very active. He remained with Gadkari and even insisted to drop him to his private aircraft as though he was trying to compensate the mistake in the past for not visiting Gadkari and other senior party leaders in Delhi to resolve differences between the BJP and the JMM over separate candidature of these two parties. They had handshake here again,” sources said.

Even the JMM insiders were of the view that such gesturers are subject to serious political interpretation. “It was something beyond mere courtesy meeting and welcome if Deputy Chief Minister accompanied Gadkari during his Ranchi visit. He even did not mind to let himself mixed-up with the state BJP leaders and workers who had turned in large number to welcome Gadkari,” a senior JMM leader said.

“If something was lost during and after the Rajya Sabha election we recovered it,” the leader said. When one of those men called Gadkari and the other Soren, it’s never just a handshake, it is something beyond that.