Fly on the Wall
Sunak drew a leaf out of Modi's Book
It seems Prime Minister Modi has finally got a match in England, if not in India. Guess who ! Its none other than the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who is proud to be a “practicing Hindu”, visits temples barefoot in simple attire leaving his security cover far behind and claims an Indian legacy by saying he is the son-in-law of India. Interestingly, he took his oath as a British MP in the name of Bhagwat Gita in 2015 and there is no controversy in England about his being a Hindu. Among the large galaxy of world leaders during the G20 Summit, the British PM was way ahead of all of them in terms of leaving his footprints behind. If Modi stole the thunder when he visited the UK for the first time as PM, his counterpart Sunak also earned laurels and left behind his own legacy.
A glance at the social media will show what a huge mark he has made. Though he did not address any gathering or seminar, he mingled with people at various places in Delhi during his stay. The couple's simplicity was remarkable. Sunak won the hearts of millions of environmentalists in India when he announced the largest chunk of $2 billion for the climate fund, more than what India and US had committed. The dinner for world leaders hosted by President Droupadi Murmu led to more photo worthy moments. Their visit to the Akshardham Temple in East Delhi on a rain drenched morning under a red umbrella and barefoot won the hearts and performing "aarti" together was all that PM Modi is known to be doing. The couple represented “a great middle-class success story in UK” and Sunak became the first PM of Indian heritage to visit the country which was a former British colony. Modi was looking for a trade deal with UP during his bilateral meeting with Sunak. But that may be later now.
Modi's session googly
The Modi government's decision to summon a special session of Parliament beginning September 18 has stumped INDIA, an alliance of 20-odd parties. Top leaders of INDIA are completely clueless about the agenda and launched a bitter attack on PM Modi for his autocratic style of functioning. Initially, they harped on Modi pushing the country into the “One Nation One Poll” by bringing a constitution amendment. They harped on the government forming a high-level committee under the chairmanship of former President Ramnath Kovind to give its recommendations. Interestingly, the committee has not held a single sitting so far and it became clear that this may not be on the plate for the September special session.
Then, the Opposition hit upon the idea of Modi's design of changing the name of the country from India to Bharat as the President Draupadi Murmu invited G20 guests over dinner as President of “Bharat.” But there was silence at the grave when several legal luminaries told the party leaders that using “Bharat” is perfectly legal if the invite is in Hindi. There is an explicit provision to use India or Bharat in the Constitution. They told the party that it should not fall into the trap of the BJP on the issue unless the government officially proposes to remove India completely from the Constitution. Since it will require a 2/3 majority in both houses of parliament, the government may not go in for such an amendment at all. PM Modi had other ideas in mind when the special session was conceived as there may be several resolutions on plate including that of successful completion of G20 and Modi emergence on the globe as “Vishwa Mitra” and the second resolution could be on the successful Moon mission Chandrayan-3. Having burnt their fingers, the Congress leaders declared that they wouldn't allow "Modi Chalisa" during the special session and may even boycott the proceedings.
Extending Term ?
Prime Minister Modi is against premature dissolution of either Lok Sabha or any state assembly. But he seems to be toying with the idea of extending the tenure of five state assemblies extending by another six months to May 2024 to coincide with the Lok Sabha polls. These states are Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Telangana. The states of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal and Sikkim are going to the polls in April 2024. This means nine states along with Lok Sabha may be held together. There is also a view that the two BJP-ruled states of Maharashtra and Haryana may be brought forward taking the tally to 11 states. For Jharkhand. The Assembly polls are due in October-2024 and the state is already facing tough times and can fall any day. But to extend the tenure of five state assemblies, PM Modi may have to invoke a political emergency in these states and doing so will be a tough political call. Will Modi buy the bait? unlikely.
