this story originally appeared in on may 15 2016will he turn out to be narendra modis arab steed or congress trojan horse subramanian swamys entry into the rajya sabha has lutyens delhi aflutter with theoriesfor someone who has straddled the indian political scene for over four decades dr subramanian swamy has always been an important figure in lutyens delhi a mover and a shaker he has dominated events and determined their outcome through dogged courtroom battles yet his nomination to the rajya sabha last month by the modi government is seen as something that will alter power equations not just across the parliament but within the bjp itself swamys entry into a congressdominated rajya sabha is being seen as a natural step forward after his resounding success in the national herald litigation in december 2015 when he managed to force both sonia and rahul gandhi to secure bail in his case against the congresscontrolled newspaper in a delhi court bjp managers point out that swamy had to be in the rs just to rile the gandhis and disturb congress benches to push government business in fact opposition leader ghulam nabi azad described him as a new gift of the bjp to us however with his newfound status the onetime harvard professor is the most soughtafter vvip in political circles as exdelhi bjp mla vijay jolly of the delhi study group who is organising a public felicitation for swamy on may16 at the constitution club offers envoys from 25 countries such as china us taiwan vietnam have all confirmed participation just to hear swamy speak swamys appointment diary is apparently full for next two months the bjp leaders entry into the parliament is making waves not just outside raisina hills but even among mps now everyone is taking a keen interest in the rajya sabha proceedings more so than the lok sabha said a firstterm bjp mp from rajasthan online viewership of rstv reportedly went up by 900 per cent when swamy spoke on the agusta aka choppergate scam even within the parliament there was tremendous curiosity to hear him firsthand with members rushing back to the house from the central hall yet within the bjp swamy is held in awe and the party is exploring ways to cope with him for someone who has wielded tremendous power before he has been a union minister and run a government chandrashekhar 199091 been part of one narasimha rao 199196 and remorselessly destroyed another just after a year in office vajpayee government 19981999 the party is walking on eggshells when it comes to swamy for some bjpsangh leaders swamy has been made an mp by the modi government only to break the myth that this government has done nothing about the gandhis it wants to fight the image there was a need to send a message to the cadres said a sangh leader officially the sangh denied it had any role to play in the rs berth for swamy it