THE selection of Rajya Sabha candidates by the BJP has bewildered many
in the ‘saffron-camp’. The BJP has even accommodated politicians who were
persona non grata for the RSS. Narendra Modi and Amit Shah seem to have
selected candidates as per the latter’s utility as a politician. Also, many
were surprised when RSS’ prominent face Ram Madhav’s name was not in the list
whereas an unknown face like Anil Baluni from Uttarakhand scored a position in
the Upper House. Baluni was once a stringer to minor newspapers like Kuber
Times and JVG Times. With time, both the newspapers shut down and Baluni began
visiting the BJP and RSS’ Delhi offices. Here he came in touch with Sunder
Singh Bhandari. When Bhandari became the Governor of Gujarat, he made Baluni
his Officer on Special Duty. This was sometime around 2001. It was the same
time when Modi took over as Gujarat Chief Minister. Baluni then played a role
of the medium of communication between Modi and Bhandari. Unfortunately,
Bhandari passed away and a grieved Baluni reached out to Modi. Modi then
appointed Baluni as the spokesperson of Uttarakhand BJP. When Modi came to
power at the Centre, Baluni too emerged as the national spokesperson of the
BJP. Modi, it is known, never forgets his trusted aides and as a testimony to
that, Baluni was obliged with a Rajya Sabha seat. In an aside, veteran leader
of Uttarakhand BC Khanduri must be bemused to see Baluni’s rise, a man he
snubbed when he was the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand.
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