by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group
No one knows what's
Narendra Modi up to
Decoding Modi
Harish Gupta
New Delhi, May 20
The Delhites and Lutyen's Zone veterans are having a
taste of what kind of government they are going to get when an outsider will
take oath on May 26 evening.
It is perhaps for the first time that the party will take
oath 11 days after it won the historic mandate on May 16. What's baffling is
that be it political pundits, foes or friends or aspirants or I-know-all types,
no one has a clue of anything. Who will be kept out of the Cabinet and who will
join? What will be the role of sulking brigade led by L K Advani? Who will be
his principal secretary or Cabinet Secretary or National Security Adviser?
whether Rajnath Singh will join the government and if so who will be the party
president? who will be the finance minister if not Arun Jaitley ?
It's now five days and no one has a definite answer.
Modi's alter-ego and master strategist Amit Shah meets everybody. But doesn't
know anything. He has no favourite pressmen either. There are no leaks which
has been the usual feature of all the system of all previous governments.
One will have to work very hard to get a clue of what's
cooking. For example, Narendra Modi who was camping in Gujarat Bhawan until
this noon, called up Karya Munda to enquire if he had come to Delhi. When the Deputy Speaker of the 15thLok
Sabha told him that he has come to participate in the May 20 meeting, Modi
said, " I would like to come to you." Munda insisted that he would
come to the Gujarat Bhawan. The two met at 10.30 pm in the night and it
continued for 45 minutes. What transpired between them is not known. But it
signals that Munda either will be in the Cabinet or the next Speaker. So L K
Advani is out.
There is another clue. When Modi called on L K Advani and
sat with him for 45 minutes, Advani asked his daughter Pratibha Advani to join
the discussion within 5 minutes.
She had issued a statement that her father would be happy
if he became the Speaker. During the next 40 minutes Modi discussed films she
was making. Sushma Swaraj sought time from him and he listened to her without
giving a clue to her about anything.
When Ram Vilas Paswan called on him along with his son
and wife and started narrating how many portfolios he had held in the past,
Modi said, "Paswanji, I know. You don't have to tell about it. You are a
very senior person. But Jamana to yuvakon ka aa gaya hai though Chirag can wait." How
one should interpret this, could be anybody's guess.
Except for Amit Shah, J P Nadda, Dharmendra Pradhan and
Arun Jaitley, nobody has his ears. But when it comes to Cabinet formation, he
only hears the views expressed by them. He asked Rajnath Singh to coordinate
and meet all those and send him parameters - why they will be an asset to the
government and the party and what they have done in the past. But even Rajnath
Singh doesn't know his own department. For example, Arun Shourie whose name is
being splashed as Finance Minister met Singh, the BJP chief frankly told him
that he would take the list to Modiji and it will be decided by him.
Thereafter, Shourie also met Modi. Its 20th evening and no one knows the next
Cabinet and the portfolios. Even the allies of the BJP in the NDA are not sure
whether they will join the government though Modi has publicly said that he
would take care of even those who are not members of the NDA. But he asked the
BJP MPs not to go after the posts and work in the field.
With regard to the new National security advisor, the
post may be abolished and new post of Director of National Intelligence may be
created. It may be mentioned that Modi invited veteran security expert Ajit
Doval for a detailed talk on the internal security situation in the country and
neighbourhood. Doval has been a former IB chief during the NDA era and a top
security expert. It simply means that Doval will get an important assignment.
It may be interesting to note that Home secretary Anil Goswami sought time from
Modi on his own.
(To be concluded)
