Defense Minister Rajnath Singh was out of the country on 28 June so he wasn’t present at the inauguration of new Parliament. But that’s not the whole truth. Singh attended the morning puja ceremony. At that time no one knew that he was going to leave for Nigeria shortly. So, Singh was present as well as absent on the day of the inauguration.
Good at clean-up jobs
Unlike ministers who only make themselves available for photo-ops after tragedies, Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw reached the train accident spot in Odisha and stayed till the end. Vaishnaw is familiar with every nook and corner of the state as he was a 1994 batch IAS officer of the Odisha cadre. After the rescue operation, he got the railway track cleared and even the traffic is now back to normal. Similarly, when the Jodhpur-Suryanagari accident took place a few months ago, he got the track cleared in a few hours.
CBI inquiry
Why did the Ministry of Railways hand over the train accident case to the CBI? Reportedly, the Railway Protection Force and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting have submitted a report, which says that the possibility of sabotage cannot be ruled out. The Prime Minister’s Office has been informed about this by the Railways ministry. And PM Narendra Modi is fully supporting the railways minister. Many in the BJP believe that the accident is a conspiracy to defame the government.
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Grass vs roots
Congress is upbeat with its victory in Karnataka. What to do with this enthusiasm? Factional politics in Uttar Pradesh. The war of new versus old loyalists has started within the party. Brijlal Khabri, the party’s state president who was appointed 10 months is said to be on his way out. The internal tussle has worsened with multiple appointments of in-charges. It is almost on the verge of getting violent. Nehru Bhawan’s lush green grass has become the battleground. People who have been in Congress for long call themselves grassroots workers of the party. The new ones think of themselves as the green grass of Nehru Bhawan. By the way, in the 2022 assembly elections in UP, the party got 2.3 per cent votes and two seats.
Whatever it takes
The bureaucracy of Uttar Pradesh is amazing. Here, just by looking at someone’s face, you could tell what party and government they support. And when you look at their shadow, you would know which position the bureaucrat is fighting for. Currently, the bureaucrats in Uttar Pradesh are putting tremendous effort to get the post of Electricity Regulatory Commission’s chairperson. The position is going to be vacated this month and 40 applications have already been received. Each of the aspirants is engaged in clever tricks. Half a dozen of them have experience working in the electricity department in the capacity of principal secretary or secretary. The retired IAS officer and those who took voluntary retirement have enjoyed a lot of importance in the BJP government, so their aspirations are also young.
Cancel the stance
Hardeep Singh Puri, minister of petroleum and natural gas, had to hold a press conference on 3 June to talk about the Modi government’s achievement on its 9th anniversary. The presser had been scheduled for 12:30 pm. But then came the news of the train accident in Odisha. Puri’s office called the BJP headquarters to ask what stance should the minister take if there are questions about the accident. The response was that party has decided to cancel the press conference.
Ignore and avoid
Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s suggestion to deal with phone calls from unknown numbers is to not pick up the call at all. But how will people know if they get any important call from an unknown number? The minister said that if it’s an important call, the unknown caller will introduce himself by sending a text message. Any other way to avoid unwanted calls? Not at the moment.
A lot at stake
When is PM Modi’s next foreign tour? Many BJP leaders are asking this question for a completely different reason. These days, the party members are discussing a possible reshuffle in the council of ministers that can happen any day. Who will get a place, and who will be removed, the interests of many party members are at stake in this. So, when they came to know that the PM will go abroad in the third week of this month, speculations intensified that the reshuffle may take place before Modi leaves.
Freebie mantra
It seems that Congress has now accepted Maal-e-Muft or freebies as its victory mantra. The party members are focusing all their attention on what things can be given free of cost to the public, and how they can be given. Congress believes that the freebies mantra has been proved right in Karnataka and Himachal assembly elections. That’s why every big leader of the party is sending their suggestions of one or the other free scheme to the party leadership. Things have gone so far that the party leadership has started telling senior leaders to stop sending their ‘free’ suggestions. The party members thought that they might start getting paid for sharing their ideas. But a prominent leader told them to keep sending their ideas but for free. Don’t expect anything in return. Suggestions about freebies will especially have to be given for free.
Bharat Agrawal is Executive Director, Dainik Bhaskar Group, and a columnist.
By special arrangement with Dainik Bhaskar, edited by Ratan Priya.