Fly on the Wall : Javadekar Kicks Teachers' Awards lobbyists out

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Javadekar Kicks Teachers' Awards lobbyists out

After Lutyen's Delhi was banished from the list of Padma Awards, the time is up for teachers to lobby for most prestigious National Awards. For the first time in Independent India, the practice of seeking names of best teachers from states for these awards has been abandoned. Human Resources Development Minister Prakash Javadekar decided to invite applications from teachers from all over India online directly. The only condition was that the teacher seeking National Award must have done something innovative or made extra-ordinary contribution to qualify for such an award. There were protests from the states as they felt that their powers have been curtailed. But Javadekar's answer was simple- states can also nominate if they so desire but the parameters will remain the same. Perhaps, Javadekar had discussed with the PM this innovative idea before over-hauling the time-tested lobby system. The PM gave the go-ahead as he himself must have been unhappy as he used to witness huge pressure as Chief Minister of Gujrat with recommendations. Javadekar constituted a high-powered committee to select 50 awardees from amongst 6000 applications. These 50 will be awarded on September 5 at Vigyan Bhawan. A senior HRD ministry official said there is a Lutyen's Zone in every state Capital and all awards were reserved for toppers living in such zones. Surely, if Modi disbanded Lutyen's Zone wallas from the list of Padma awards, Prakash Javadekar sent them for a six in the teachers category. Watch out other ministries in the years to come. Now it may the turn of the doctors.

Atal makes maiden entry in JNU

When Atal Behari Vajpayee was Prime Minister, he wanted the party to make inroads in the Left-controlled Jawaharlal Nehru University. Barring a success here and there, the Sangh Parivar failed to crack the Left bastion. However, his dream was fulfilled without any murmurs by HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar last week. Vajpayee was rehabilitated in death. Javadekar met a large number of people and convinced them that the government was willing to walk an extra-mile to make JNU a world class institution. It is willing to grant new courses including the School of Management and Engineering. The Executive Council of JNU was convinced that starting these courses would go a long way in enhancing its stature. Then came the plea that the Management Centre be named after late Atal Behari Vajpayee. Marathon discussions took place at various levels as Javadekar didn't want any controversies. He wanted matters to be resolved through negotiations rather than bull-dozing his way. The end result - Executive Council paid its fulsome tribute to Vajpayee and proposed to name it as 'Atal Bihari Vajpayee School of Management and Entrepreneurship." Of course, some felt that this would "dilute the research-oriented nature of JNU". But Atal made the entry, finally.

Timing of removal surprised N N Vohra

N N Vohra who had been holding the fort in Jammu & Kashmir for more than ten years, left the Raj Bhawan on an unhappy note. Though an appointee of Dr Manmohan Singh in 2008, PM Modi decided to retain the seasoned bureaucrat. But Vohra had realised for the past some time that his days are numbered and started taking up cudgels on issues which were alien to him. During the last two months, friction between the Raj Bhavan and the Centre and Army increased. Raj Bhavan officials say that for the past ten years Vohra hardly had any differences with the Army over the killings of the “innocents”. But suddenly his heart started bleeding for them and he raised voice at meetings with the top army officials which didn't go down well with New Delhi. Vohra also opposed the any dilution of Article 35A which defines State subject laws, in the Supreme Court until an elected government was in place. This annoyed Modi so much that he decided to send Malik at a very short notice giving no time to Vohra to do any “further damage.” The Union Home Ministry informed him over the phone that his successor had been chosen and Satya Pal Malik will take charge from him. But Vohra did not wait for Satya Pal Malik to come to Srinagar. He decided to leave in the morning itself though Malik was expected from Patna in the afternoon. Vohra was conspicuous by his absence during the swearing-in of the new Governor on August 23. This surprised political observers because Vohra has been stickler of protocol. Vohra had expressed his willingness to manage the Amarnath Yatra and ensure the smooth conduct of the panchayat elections by the end of the year. But Modi was unwilling to give any leeway.

Why Satya Pal Malik to J&K ?

Most political leaders in the BJP are eyeing to become Bihar Governor these days though Lalji Tandon has been put in place for the time being. Bihar Raj Bhawan is considered Touch Of Gold; whosoever occupied it, got a huge promotion. If Ram Nath Kovind rose to become the President of India, Satya Pal Malik hogged the national limelight by moving to Srinagar Raj Bhawan. Both came from UP and originally didn't belong to the BJP either. But both became integral part of the BJP. Modi picked them for key posts though he had no personal contact with them either. While Kovind was always a low profile and humble person, Satya Pal Malik was in the forefront of political events. He had played a key role in the fall of the Morarji Desai government and making Charan Singh as PM with the help of the Congress. Though Congress pulled the plug and Charan Singh lost power within months, Satya Pal Malik dumped his mentor. He joined the Congress which nominated him to the Rajya Sabha twice, in 1980 and 1986. Later, Malik deserted Rajiv Gandhi and joined hands with V P Singh and became a minister in his government. He later joined Samajwadi Party and finally landed in BJP. Modi picked up Malik for the post as he was very close to Mufti Mohammed Sayeed who was Home Minister in the V P Singh government. It was during this period that relationship grew and both came close. Malik considers Mehbooba as his daughter. It seems Modi may do business with PDP once again in Jammu & Kashmir. Perhaps, Malik may be of some help.

Fly on The Wall : Bitter battle grips Railway Board

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

A bitter battle has gripped the Rail Bhawan here ever since Ashwini Lohani was appointed chairman of the Railway Board in a mid-night coup. Lohani was brought by the PMO after A K Mittal quit in the wake of two consecutive railway accidents last month. While the Railway administration was still in the process of absorbing the shocking news of Mittal quitting, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu also quit. But all hell broke when Lohani was brought to the Railway Board as its chairman. Lohani could not have been appointed as Chairman under the rules and procedures. Insiders say that rules were thrown to the winds. Rules state that unless an officer held the post of General Manager in the Railways, he cannot become a Member of the board or its chairman. A non-member can become chairman of the board. But the condition is that he must have an experience of working as GM in the Railways. Lohani was two ladder down in the seniority and yet he was made chairman straight. The insult to the injury was also in store as Lohani also superseded two highly competent and senior members of the Railway Board. The two members are Ravindra Gupta and Mohammad Jamshed who are bitter and contemplating quitting. The position of these two members has become untenable with Lohani's appointment. The new Railway Minister, Piyush Goyal is busy sorting out the grave issue as both of them reportedly threatened to quit. Goyal wants to resolve this anomaly as continued acrimony can take a turn for the worse. The internal trouble has cropped up at a time when the Railways is trying to overcome serious problems. No doubt, Lohani is an old Railway hand and a technical guy himself. He is reported to have impressed the PMO when he was made ITDC chairman. His appointment had raised eyebrows in the ITDC as well. But within no time, he got a big boost and brought as Chairman Air India.

Amit Shah's advice to Narain Rane

The BJP high command has conveyed to dissident Congress leader Narain Rane to keep patience and his entry is only a matter of time. BJP president Amit Shah had a meeting with him a couple of months ago where in principle decision was taken to admit the Ranes into the BJP. Amit Shah's philosophy is to admit leaders from other parties with an open arm and once they are in the BJP, they would be “reformed.” Shah is of the firm view that this is the only way to expand BJP in a short span and win Lok Sabha seats. This open arm policy is contrary to most of his predecessors who were rather slow in admitting leaders from other parties. But Amit Shah wants every influential leader to be part of the BJP. Therefore, he has conveyed to Rane that he would surely be admitted.

India Foundation calls the shots

What is common among Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha and MoS External Affairs M J Akbar ? All of them are professionals and highly successful and their rise has been rather brisk. In the case of Nirmala Sitharaman, it has been phenomenal. But there is one more factor; all of them are key member of the India Foundation, a think tank founded by BJP general Secretary Ram Madhav. His focus is to ensure that BJP gets more Lok sabha seats in states where it didn't get numbers in 2014. The Think-Tank formally came into being early 2014 though Ram Madhav was working for Narendra Modi in Gujrat for a long time. Ram Madhav is considered a parallel power centre. There are as many as eight such think tanks floated by those associated with the RSS & BJP. But India Foundation and Vivekanand International Foundation are the two most powerful think tanks providing talented persons to the Modi government. Interestingly, Ram Madhav keeps a low profile and works from behind the scenes. The rise of Nirmala Sitharaman is being attributed to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. But it is said that Ram Madhav is the key behind her success and worked hard to promote her at every stage. He prefers to handle security and international affairs apart from J&K and North eastern states.

The mystery of 'Old Notes' deepens as RBI counts

The mystery of “old notes” demonetized and deposited with banks deepened further after the RBI said: Rs 15.28 lakh crores in old notes out of Rs 15.44 lakh crores had been counted and final figure will be released later. This leaves only Rs 16000 crores which were not deposited with the RBI. But think of 'Old Notes' still lying with Nepal Rashtriya Bank and other neighbouring countries. The figure is stated to be over Rs 8000 crores. The RBI has yet to accept around Rs 7000 crores from Cooperative banks. Then, thousands and thousands of NRIs who made a bee-line outside the RBI branches failed to deposit old notes who came from all over the world as government changed rules at will. In addition, banned notes lying with the Income Tax, ED, Police in states and other agencies could not be deposited with the RBI either. Did India print more notes than notified ? No one has a clue. But everyone in the government is frightened if the old notes in the “pipeline” are allowed to be deposited.

Mamata wants Kejri in Mahagathbandhan

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is pitching for the inclusion of Aam Aadmi Party into the grand alliance of 17 Opposition parties. Mamata wants Arvind Kejriwal to be part of the “Mahagathbandhan” as he is a force in Delhi and elsewhere. However, the Congress has puts its foot down and made it clear that there is no place for AAP in the front. Rather, the Congress leadership has cautioned Mamata Banerjee to keep away as Kejriwal is known for selling dreams. The Congress leaders sheepishly confessed how Kejriwal fooled Shiela Dixit saying that he will never float a political party and work for her victory in Delhi. But Mamata is unwilling to dump Kejriwal. Perhaps, Kejriwal has promised to campaign for Mamata and project her as Prime Ministerial candidate in 2019.