Mohan Bhagwat’s mosque trip left BJP clueless. Only Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi is smiling

BJP ministers have been told to keep handy a list of their ministries' work. Used to praising Modi, they are worried what they will say if the PM asks them about their work.

File photo of Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Mohan Bhagwat at a release function in September 2018 | Photo: @naqvimukhtar | Twitter

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat visited a mosque. BJP leaders are astonished, unable to understand the meaning themselves nor able to explain it to others. And what will the visit achieve? Nobody has an answer, but Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has a smile on his face. Muslim-free Modi govt may not offer any opportunity, but several states are going to appoint governors soon.

Church pe charcha

Ever since Mohan Bhagwat has visited a mosque, speculations are rife that soon he will also got to a church too. Many are saying he might visit two churches in central Delhi and one church in north Delhi. But what will he discuss? Just like how the BJP-RSS are seen anti-Muslim, they are also  similarly seen anti-church for its alleged acts of religious conversion.

It seems that the RSS is determined to put an end to all the allegations that have been levelled against it over the years. For example, a visit to a mosque by Mohan Bhagwat to counter the anti-Muslim. It dealt with the charge of not communicating with Muslims by holding a meeting with Muslim leaders and intellectuals. Now, wait till Dussehra for the RSS to deal with the anti-women image.

Ministers in a fix  

The Union Cabinet is scheduled to meet on Wednesday. Hence, all the ministers are busy preparing for it. A call from the PMO has gone out to all the ministers to complete all the preparations in time and also keep handy four or five points. Now, since it’s not about eulogising the achievements of the PM or the Union government and the ministers instead have to elaborate about the works done by their respective ministries, they are left wondering what they will utter if the PM asks them to do so. This problem is compounded by the fact that the ministers are duly instructed that they need not say anything, even by mistake, about what they did during the Seva Pakhwada (a fortnight of service). One of the ministers did acknowledge that all of this is turning out to be a big hassle.

Interpol intolerance

Interpol officials of 90 countries are going to meet in Delhi mid-October. Senior officials related to intelligence and security affairs from different countries will assemble in Delhi for the four-day meet. A home ministry official has been heard saying that ‘raids’ will pour after this meeting just like the way rains hit Delhi in September.

Anil Jain’s Googly

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor was recently removed from the post of chairman of the Standing Committee on Information Technology. Apart from the opposition parties, the BJP also came out in protest against this move. Five MPs have written letters demanding that Tharoor be reinstated as the chairman of the standing committee. One of them is BJP’s Anil Jain. The MP has put BJP in the defence mode. In the past, Anil Jain used to be the national general secretary of the BJP and held a lot of clout too.

Bharat Agrawal is Executive Director, Dainik Bhaskar Group, and a columnist.

By special arrangement with Dainik Bhaskar and translated by Ram Lal Khanna from the original in Hindi and edited by Prashant.