Fly on the wall
Harish Gupta
Why Delhi Is Betting on Ashwini Vaishnav
Ashwini Vaishnav is not the kind of minister who dominates television panels or daily headlines. He keeps a deliberately low profile, avoids the media glare, and operates with the demeanour of a technocrat rather than a political showman. Yet, in Narendra Modi’s government, his importance far outweighs his visibility.
Vaishnav’s strength lies in a rare convergence of skills. A former IAS officer with an engineering degree from IIT Kanpur and an MBA from Wharton, he embodies the Modi government’s preferred model of leadership—technically grounded, administratively sharp, and relentlessly execution-focused. As the minister handling Railways, Electronics and IT, he is seen as a hands-on administrator who understands both policy design and the nuts and bolts of delivery.
He has also cultivated a reputation for accessibility. Unlike many senior ministers, Vaishnav uses social media proactively, responding to public grievances and tracking complaints in real time. Beyond this, he holds the crucial Information and Broadcasting portfolio, placing him at the heart of the government’s sensitive media management operations, including coordination with the PMO. Reflecting this expanded role, a wing of the government’s top media team now functions from Rail Bhawan itself—an unusual but telling institutional coordination.
It is against this backdrop that his quiet arrival in Washington a few days ago assumes significance. Officially, the visit focused on critical minerals. Politically and economically, it was about much more. Vaishnav does not hold a trade or mining portfolio. His presence signalled something else: that he was acting as the Prime Minister’s economic emissary.
By sending a minister who combines proximity to Modi with direct control over industrial execution, New Delhi signalled seriousness to Washington. This was not exploratory diplomacy, but negotiation with intent. While External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar continues to frame the strategic narrative and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal guards the trade perimeter, the center of gravity has clearly shifted. He has also been sent to Davos at the World Economic Forum meet. The conversation has moved from diplomacy to deployability. Implementers are now at the forefront—and in that transition, Ashwini Vaishnav has emerged as Modi's muscat.
Ankita Bhandari case: BJP's Self-Inflicted Crisis
The BJP has perfected the art of marketing a political narrative putting rivals to lick the dust in states after states. Most of the Chief Ministers of the BJP-ruled states are having a comfortable time unless the high command decides to show them the door. For a while, everything seemed to be moving smoothly for the Pushkar Singh Dhami government in Uttarakhand. His standing was high with the top leadership of both the RSS and the BJP in terms of delivery and political management. But chinks in his armory surfaced in the murder of Ankita Bhandari case.
More than three years after this hotel receptionist was killed – and seven months after the accused in the case were convicted – fresh allegations surfaced with a senior BJP leader being accused of being involved in it. The fresh outrage forced the Chief Minister to visit Ankita Bhandari's parents and order a CBI probe to identify the alleged “VIP” involved in her murder.
This came as a shot in arm to the Congress and put the BJP on a weak wicket. The reason lay not in the investigation itself but in a series of avoidable missteps by BJP leaders that steadily muddied the narrative. If a CBI inquiry was inevitable to establish the identity of the VIP, the question arises as to why the same was not done earlier. The trigger, perhaps, was
when State BJP president Mahendra Bhatt branded whistle blower in the case a “Congress puppet.” The whistle blower, a North East student claimed that a person referred to as “G” was exerting pressure on Ankita Bhandari through Pulkit Arya for “special services,” and that her refusal led to her murder. Following these claims, the name of a senior BJP leader began circulating, forcing him to seek judicial intervention.
What’s in a Name? BJP’s Quiet Battle Over New Chief
The party’s top brass has quietly issued an internal advisory: senior leaders are requested—the word is doing heavy lifting here—to address the new chief strictly as Adhyakshji. Not Bhaiyyaji, not Nitin babu, and certainly not the dangerously affectionate “Arre Nitin!” The problem is age. Nabin is younger than almost everyone who matters, and Bihar BJP is populated by veterans who have been calling each other bhai since the Mandal era. Old habits, like old leaders, refuse to retire.
There is genuine anxiety in Delhi that a casual bhaiyyaji at a public meeting could puncture the carefully constructed authority of the new president. Two BJP Chief Ministers reportedly were heard calling him by the first name. After all, respect in politics is often measured less by designation and more by how stiffly one folds their hands. For now, the circular stands. Whether Adhyakshji does is another matter entirely.
Why Congress Never Learns: TN Next
If there is one political lesson the Congress steadfastly refuses to absorb, it is the cost of indecision. The party dragged its feet on alliances in Bihar till the last moment and paid the price. Earlier, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa followed the same script—confusion and delayed decisions. Now, Tamil Nadu is beginning to look worryingly familiar.
The state unit is caught in a tug of war between the old guard and the Rahul Gandhi–aligned younger leadership. Veterans want to consolidate the alliance with the ruling DMK, arguing that survival in Tamil Nadu depends on staying firmly within the Dravidian fold. The younger leaders—Manickam Tagore and Jothimani —want the Congress to keep its options open by exploring a possible understanding with actor-turned-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).
Rahul Gandhi’s recent Tamil Nadu visit was expected to bring clarity. Instead, it deepened the ambiguity. His public criticism of the Censor Board over the denial of a Pongal release to Vijay’s film Jana Nayagan was read as a political signal, unsettling the DMK while energising the pro-TVK camp. For now, Rahul Gandhi appears to be reassuring the DMK even as he encourages his younger colleagues to keep the Vijay option alive—as leverage for more seats and power-sharing. It is a familiar Congress habit: hedge everywhere, decide nowhere, and hope time resolves contradictions. History suggests it rarely does.
