The Week India – July 14, 2019

14 THE WEEK • JULY 14 , 2019

APERITIF

PARTY SNACKS

THE GUILT TRIP

H.D. Deve Gowda is too old for Delhi politics. The

Janata Dal (Secular) leader admitted as much

recently, when he announced that he would start

touring Karnataka on August 20. With the JD(S)-

led state government on shaky ground, he is

preparing for the worst—the fall of the government

and snap assembly polls. The tour appears to be

Gowda’s way of giving a clarion call to partymen to

prepare for elections, and apologising for having

fielded three of his family members in the Lok

Sabha polls. “I have not practised family politics,”

he said. “This time, circumstances compelled me

[to do so], and the people punished me for it.”

ILLUSTRATIONS JAIRAJ T.G.

LOTUS GETS

NO LIFT-OFF

P.S. Sreedharan Pillai, president of the

BJP’s Kerala unit, recently got stuck

in an elevator at the party office for

15 minutes. Some people found his

ordeal rather symbolic. A year since

he took charge as BJP chief, Pillai

is yet to rise up to the challenge of

expanding his party’s reach in Kerala.

Even the uproar over women entering

the Sabarimala temple, which he had

dubbed a “golden opportunity” for

the BJP, could not help the party win

a seat in the Lok Sabha polls in the

state. Critics now quip that the elevator

episode is a symbolic message for

Pillai: There is no easy way to the top;

he would have to work the stairs.