by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Naidu's Pep talk to Modi

The other day, former Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu caused a flutter by giving some peace of his mind to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and that too in public. Naidu gave this advice while launching a series of Modi’s speeches condensed in a book titled “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas (May 2019-May 2020)”. Naidu may have been giving some advice to Modi as Chairman of the Rajya Sabha privately during his five year tenure (2017-22). But this was the first time Naidu said that the Prime Minister should engage more often with opposition parties in a bid to clear any “misunderstandings” about his decisions.Naidu asked the PM to increase his frequency of meeting with opposition parties to remove misunderstandings and better coordination. Though Naidu heaped praises on Modi saying that India’s standing in the world has improved drastically due to his leadership. He said despite India’s meteoric rise, the opposition is still untrusting the PM “because of some misunderstandings.... may be out of some political compulsions”. Never before in Modi's more than eight years' tenure as PM has any leader from the 'Sangh Parivar' given this kind of advice in public. In a way, Naidu was saying that the government has not been taking the Opposition into confidence about decisions. The BJP doesn't have a majority in the Rajya Sabha and the government has been facing problems in passing its legislations since 2014 as it lacks majority. It may be mentioned here that the PM was extremely upset with Dr Hamid Ansari, Vice President (2012-2017) also. He even walked into his chamber in Parliament House to ask him why he was not allowing government bills to be passed by firmly checking the Opposition. Taken aback, Ansari said the responsibility of running the House smoothly lies with the ruling party. It is no secret that Modi was also upset with Naidu's style of running the Rajya Sabha as the situation did not improve drastically in terms of smooth functioning of the House. Insiders in the BJP say it was because of this very reason that Naidu was neither re-nominated to the VP’s post nor promoted.

 Modi Ministers on their toes

 Prime Minister Modi has introduced a model to bridge the gulf between the party and the government. All Union Cabinet Ministers, without exception, have to visit the BJP's newly built  headquarters at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg as per their turn.  These ministers are expected to spend three hours at the party headquarters in the afternoon without fail. The ministers are expected to listen to the grievances of party workers and resolve their problems. A system has been put in place and a coordinator dedicated to work as a bridge between the Union Ministers and party workers. The past experience has shown that party workers get disenchanted as their own grievances remain unaddressed and the gulf gets widened. J P Nadda, BJP president also keeps track of this interaction and provides feedback to the PM. Though such arrangements did not succeed during the Vajpayee era to the satisfaction of the party workers due to one reason or the other. But Modi ensures that these interactions are implemented in letter and spirit.

 

 How Digvijay Singh missed the Bus

 Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh is extremely upset with the Congress high command over the manner in which he had to withdraw from the race of party president. He was incharge of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo yatra as he is an excellent organizer. He rushed to Delhi to file his nomination papers leaving the ‘yatra’ mid-way at the prodding of Rahul Gandhi. He threw his hat in the ring only after Ashok Gehlot declared that he would not contest for party chief’s post. Digvijay Singh also called on Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence in the evening to ask him if he would be contesting. Kharge categorically told him, “I am not in the fray.” But within an hour Kharge got a call and he decided to enter the fray. The entire Congress machinery including senior leaders and MPs were told by the “neutral high command” to be present at the time when Kharge goes to file his nomination papers. The cat was out of the bag as Kharge was considered a "safe bet" compared to Digvijay Singh. Now feelers are being sent to an upset Digvijay Singh that he would be adequately rewarded.

 

No winter session in new Parliament House

Prime Minister Modi's most ambitious project of starting the winter session in the new Parliament House building may be delayed. Though the work is going-on round-the-clock, it turns out that the November deadline may not fructify. PM Modi and Urban Development Minister Hardeep Puri are monitoring the progress regularly. The new target for completing this state-of-the art building is February, 2023 when the Union Budget is to be presented.