Tension mounts between RBI & Govt.: Hasmukh Adhia as RBI Governor ?

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Tension mounts between RBI & Govt.

Hasmukh Adhia as RBI Governor ?

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Nov. 8

As the tensions between the central bank and the Modi government refusing to ease, there is considerable speculation that the South Block is ready with a contigency plan in the event of RBI governor Urjit Patel putting in his papers.

Though RBI Governor Urjit Patel is on record to say that all issues will be discussed at the RBI board's meet in Mumbai on November 19, controversies refusing to die. Ut got a fillip when a leading newspaper reported that the Finance Ministry wants the RBI to part with over Rs 3 lakh crores in dividend. This is a record any government has sought from the RBI and has added fuel to the fire. The government and the RBI have not denied the report. Normally, the RBI has been giving dividend to the government to the tune of Rs 25000-30000 crores every year. But the Finance Ministry wants this amount to recapitalize the public sector banks who are facing a huge cash crunch. The government has already come out with a plan to fund these bank with Rs two lakh crores. But it is facing acute cash shortage due to surge in demand from the NFBCs, infrastructure sector and bank recapitalization.

Urjit Patel has maintained a studied silence despite provocative statements being made by some non-official and part-time members of the RBI Board. But Urjit Patel has sent a clear signal that he is a tough guy and unlikely to relent when comes to the independence of the RBI. The prospects of Patel resigning had receded as some sort of truce has been achieved. But after non-official member S Gurumurthy blasted the RBI and Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash garg attacked Viral Acharya, RBI Deputy governor, the war may escalate further. Garg attacked Acharya and mocked him asking him where is “Wrath of the Markets?”. Acharya had said if the government interfere, it will have to bear the wrath of the markets. The government is demanding that RBI relax norms for loans to power sector and relaxing norms for SMEs. Urjit Patel was in no mood to do so. The board of RBI was unwilling to relent also.

Highly placed sources say that the government is fed up with professionals who are not aware of the ground realities of the economy; be it Raghuram Rajen or Urjit Patel. It will now have bureaucrats as next RBI governor. It is in this regard that the name of Hasmukh Adhia is being mentioned.

He is retiring on November 26 this year. At one point, he was tipped to be cabinet secretary. But Modi decided to give extension to incumbent P K Sinha for a year. Adhia is from the Gujarat cadre and said to be one of Modi’s handpicked and trusted officials. Many in the bureaucracy believe that the government would like to retain his services in an important capacity after he retires. In the event of Urjit Patel choosing to stay put, Adhia may also be given an extension until the next General Election.

Ends

Fly on the Wall : Bitter feud bring CBI to a grinding halt

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Fly on the Wall : 

Bitter feud bring CBI to a grinding halt

CBI director Alok Verma may have just four months to go before he demit office on December 1. But not a day passes when he is not involved in a bitter battle with his own deputy Rakesh Asthana. The latest saga began when Verma ordered on the file that statements of all the persons named in the diaries be recorded. In a written note issued to the Special Unit in the CBI, Verma directed that the diaries recovered from the premises of the promoters of Gujrat-based Sterling Biotech company offices be recorded without further delay. Several top politicians, bureaucrats and police officers have been named in the diaries recovered by the Income-tax department in 2011 which have now been handed over to the CBI for criminal investigation. The diaries had names and monies paid to those named. But Verma's target seems to be Asthana who was Police Commissioner of Surat whose name figured in the diaries as well. It is an irony that Verma was brought as CBI chief by the Modi dispensation in December 2016 while Asthana, a Gujarat-cadre IPS officer, is believed to be close to the PM and BJP president Amit Shah. No case has been registered against Asthana, the CBI director wants to formally record his statement in connection with the probe. This annoyed Asthana so much that he knocked at the door of the PMO alleging vindictive attitude of his superior. Verma also crossed swords with the Chief Vigilance Commissioner K V Chaudhary saying that Asthana had no mandate to represent the agency in his absence and should not be "consulted for inducting officers into the agency. Obviously, Verma was peeved that his plans to bring two officers of his choice in the CBI were thwarted by CVC. Verma wanted to bring Rajiv Krishna and R P Upadhyay into the CBI as additional directors. Both are considered close to Verma. But Asthana torpedoed Verma's plans. The last word on Verma-Asthana feud is yet to be written.

Adhia shows who is the Boss !

If CBI Chief Alok Verma is fighting with his Number 2 in the agency, Enforcement Director Karnal Singh has chosen to lock horns with Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia, Finance Secretary. While the government was keen that he send Rajeshwar Singh, an ED officer packing, Karnal Singh defied and retained him. But in a bizarre situation Adhia showed who is the real boss. Karnal Singh has lost the latest round with Adhia on the continuation of controversial officer who was handling sensitive cases. Adhia decided to take the command in his own hands and issued a written order sending Rajeshwar Singh on forced leave. The argument goes that Karnal Singh is not the administrative head when it comes to handling of the officers of the ACC level. Rajeshwar Singh investigated many key cases including Aircel-Maxis and others and the government found that all is not well. But Karnal Singh who was hand-picked by the Modi dispensation took a different line. With Karnal Singh due to retire in October, the government will now have the opportunity to anoint a trusted officer of its choice. It is heard in the corridors of powers that he will have the ears of the Almighty.

The games TDP,  PDP play

Two key allies of the BJP may have quit the Modi government and singing a different tune. In the case of Jammu & Kashmir, it was the BJP which deserted the Mufti government one fine morning and Governor’s rule was imposed. But neither the BJP speaking against the PDP and nor the PDP speaking personally against Modi. If insiders are to be believed, the divorce took place as both were losing their respective vote bank and decided to call it a day. May be after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, they may do business again. The National Conference led by Dr Farooq Abdullah has also sent clear signals that he is not averse to do business with Modi. It was largely because of this very reason that the PDP is abstaining in the Rajya Sabha whenever voting takes place. Same is the case with Andhra Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu who felt that he is losing ground to YSR-Congress for his failure to get “special status” for his state from the NDA. In the competitive politics of Andhra Pradesh, the TDP is left with no option but to part company with the BJP.  The BJP had also developed a feeling that it is not growing in the state. But the BJP is not poaching on the TDP MLAs in Andhra. The BJP is targeting the “corrupt Congress and YSR-Congress leadership”. The whisper in the corridors of power is that TDP will do business again with the BJP after the 2019 polls.  After all, Chandrababu Naidu wants “special status” for Andhra and has no Delhi Dreams like many other chief ministers.

As Sonia frail, Priyanka gives the helping hand

As the health of Sonia Gandhi not in good shape and Congress president Rahul Gandhi trying to cope with the massive pressure of work, young party managers are a worried lot. Though Rahul’s unofficial political secretary and former IAS K Raju is the key man in the system, things have yet to take shape. The loss of weight forced Sonia Gandhi even to abandon her planned trip to Red Fort on the Independence Day. The doctors advised against her visiting the hot & humid weather conditions as she is now weighted around 45 kg only. Though she did walk an extra mile to raise slogans along with the MP s in Parliament on August 10 morning on the Rafale issue, she was looking so frail and weak, the SPG commandoes had a tough time to handle the situation. She went there as Rahul Gandhi had left for Jaipur early morning leaving Sonia Gandhi to cheer up the party MP s. This has given room for intense speculation in the party for a greater role for Priyanka Gandhi. In any case, this being the election year and with Rahul Gandhi travelling all over the country, Priyanka has to focus on UP where the party is pitted against formidable BJP. Priyanka may not have held a position in the party but her writ runs, say insiders. Her official entry into direct political role is just a matter of time as she attended the funeral of M Karunanidhi. In an unprecedented move she also decided to address ladies of an  Entrepreneur's Organization in Mumbai which was a closed-door affair. But she stole the thunder with her highly emotional speech and ladies were seen weeping. It was first time the mighty club of Mumbai realized the oratory skills of Priyanka. In case the party decides to give her a direct role and she herself chooses to emerge from the shadows, prospects of Congress will certainly brighten.

Fly on the Wall : Rahul's Anti-Modi front taking Shape

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Rahul's Anti-Modi front taking Shape

Slowly but surely, the anti-Modi front conceived by Congress president Rahul Gandhi is taking shape. It is also clearly emerging that the NCP leader Sharad Pawar is emerging as a key player in the game. Gone are the days when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sharad Pawar used to share pleasant moments in private and used to express bon-homie even publicly. Times have changed particularly after Congress president Rahul Gandhi signaled that he was not in the race for the Prime Minister's post in 2019. Though critics poked fun at his leadership qualities when Rahul Gandhi had declared a few months ago that the Congress is not targeting to win the 2019 Lok Sabha polls on its own. Later, the young scion of the Gandhi family told Sharad Pawar during one of his meetings that he was not a claimant for the post of the Prime Minister though the Congress would be the single largest party in the Opposition. Pawar was surprised at his candid statement but heard him patiently. Rahul Gandhi went to the extent of saying that his party was not a claimant for the post of the Prime Minister in 2019 and would support any one who can carry the coalition successfully. The credibility of the coalition partners is of prime importance as past experiments had failed in 1967, 1977, 1989, 1996 and even in 1998. Therefore, terms and conditions of the alliance should be in black & white and nothing be kept in the abeyance. Rahul Gandhi also signaled that the Congress Party would join the government to give it a stability, if the coalition wins the 2019 polls. Rahul's views are in departure from the past when the Congress supported governments (Charan Singh, Chandra Shekhar, H D Deve Gowda & I K Gujral) from outside. Rahul felt one of the reasons of these governments failing was grave trust deficit and Congress remaining outside the coalitions.

Sharad Pawar to stitch alliances

Rahul Gandhi is understood to have told Sharad Pawar during these meetings that being the senior most leader among the Opposition parties, he alone can bring regional and like-minded parties together under one umbrella. Realizing that he cannot bring the regional and other parties together, Rahul Gandhi wanted Pawar to play the leadership role. Though there was no finality as to who will lead the coalition, it is an unwritten understanding that Pawar would be the leader provided other regional parties like Mamata Banerjee (TMC), Mayawati (BSP), Akhilesh Yadav (SP), Lalu Prasad Yadav (RJD), M K Stalin (DMK), CPM, TDP & others also accept him. These regional parties may not have alliance with the Congress in the Lok Sabha polls in their respective states. But they will try to avoid direct confrontation with the Congress wherever feasible. The Congress-NCP have already finalised alliance in Maharashtra for the Lok Sabha and even Assembly polls. Similarly, it has also been agreed that SP-BSP will contest Lok Sabha seats together and both will spare handful of seats for the Congress and the RLD. But BSP has made it clear that it will not enter into alliance with Congress in other states. Pawar is negotiating with these parties to resolve differences as these will impact the credibility of the alliance. Therefore, all these talks are going on in complete secrecy with no one having a clue of the details. However, Fly learns that seat-sharing talks are proceeding well.

Modi Plans Big Radio Outreach

With just one year to go for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, PM Modi has decided to kick-start a massive information sharing platform for the under-informed in India's underbelly through a countrywide network of community radio stations (CRS). Taking a queue from Modi's “Man Ki Baat” radio show, the Information & Broadcasting ministry is running amok to promote setting up of the community radios and galvanize the government radio outreach to Modi's programs. The government admits that 65 per cent of India's 1.3 billion people, who live in the villages, have no access to any communication device except radio. Radio is still the most popular mode of information sharing in the remotest Indian villages and we're planning to take community radio to a next level - tech-enabled, but purely local in content and a very interactive platform.

There are currently 206 community radio stations in the country, but mostly confined to a single objective driven primarily by NGOs, educational institutions and social activists. About 239 CRS applications are in process and nearly 506 permissions for setting of new CRS have been granted. The government is targeting 4000 radio stations which can be funded through CSR initiative.

NBCC to handle seized properties

Instead of setting up a separate authority to handle the task of maintaining, managing and earning revenue from immovable properties attached in money laundering cases, the Modi government may entrust the task to the National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC). The officials in the Income Tax, ED, CBI and other agencies had been struggling to find ways to better manage properties seized, frozen or confiscated under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), including those belonging to fugitive businessmen Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi. Finally, Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia who held detailed parleys with other officials decided that NBCC will handle the affairs. Within days, Chairman-cum-Managing Director Anoop Kumar Mittal who was under the scanner, was granted the rights for maintenance, renting and auctioning of such properties. As of now, the ED manages the properties confiscated by it but does not have experience. The government may now consider amending necessary laws to ensure better upkeep of confiscated properties, they said.

Parasaran refused to toe Rahul line

K Parasaran, former Attorney-General of India who was nominated to the Rajya sabha by the UPA government, was one of the experts whom the Vice President, M Venkaiah Naidu consulted on the Motion to Impeach Chief Justice of India Dipak Mishra. It transpires that Parasaran held the view that the motion does not have any leg to stand on and wrong in law and without any basis. Though it was Congress president Rahul Gandhi who commandeered the party and others to go ahead with the motion and even made Abhishek Manu Singhvi to sign it, insiders were surprised that the UPA nominee did not heed to the advise. Rather, he gave a different opinion to Naidu. Rahul Gandhi is seething with anger with the party oldies who appointed Pasarasan to Rajya Sabha.

Fly on the Wall :Congress-NCP reach in-principle deal in Maharashtra

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Congress-NCP reach in-principle deal in Maharashtra

Fly on the wall : The 10-day silence in Rs 11400 crores Scam ?

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

The 10-day silence in Rs 11400 crores LoU Scam ?

It is no secret that the diamond business of Mama-Bhanja (Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi) came crashing on January 16 this year when an executive of Nirav Modi went to the Brandy branch of the PNB to clear the LoU. The cat was out of the bag as the handling deputy manager alerted his seniors of something fishy. All hell broke within hours and the top management got in touch with Nirav Modi who was holidaying in New York. His top executives in India including CFO Ambani kept telling the PNB that monies are being arranged. The shaken PNB management kept negotiated fo full ten days and tried hard to persuade Choksi and Modi to to arrange for collateral and matching securities. Finally, the Managing Director Sunil Mehta told the Banking Secretary in the Finance Ministry who conveyed to Finance secretary Hasmukh Adhia who in turn conveyed the biggest scam under the NDA to the Finance Minister. It transpires that Adhia informed the PMO and Jaitley too briefed the PM on the issue separately. Finally, the PNB decided to lodge a formal CBI complaint on January 28 of cheating relating to Rs 280 crores. The CBI started looking into the matter and three days later, it registered the case on January 31. The second complaint amounting to Rs 11400 crores was reported on February 13.

Value of Nirav Modi properties is Just Rs 800 Cr

The Enforcement Directorate bragged within two days of raids on Nirav Modi's establishments across the country that value of seized assets including flats and properties is Rs 5700 crores. However, the valuers and assessors of properties, jewellery and diamonds are still struggling to assess the actual value of seized assets. An informed source in the ED said the total value of immovable assets of Nirav Modi is around RS 800 crores only. The ED is yet to get hold of the actual ownership documents of all the properties if they had not already mortgaged to banks or otherwise. The ED's legal department is still struggling to discover if the properties are free from any collateral for picking up loans. What surprised industry veterans is that speed with which ED assessed the value of diamonds which is an extremely tedious process. In fact, the whole scam of Nirav Modi was to import rough diamonds and export them or sell them in Indian market at a very high price after cutting and polishing them due to his designing skills and high brand value. So far, the ED had conducted searches at over 200 premises of Modi as well as Gitanjali Gems and seized diamonds, gold and precious stones worth Rs 5700 crores based on the “tag value” or the “book Value” of the diamonds and jewelery. The book value cannot be true estimate of the goods recovered. The tag value is highly inflated. In fact, when the banks sanction loans against imported stock of rough diamonds to jewelers, there is no way to assess the true value because most valuers have no knowledge themselves or they look the other way. This is used for over-invoicing and under invoicing. The Income Tax department had also attached and froze 103 bank accounts and 40 properties of the Modi group of firms, but the value of this attachment has not been given by the IT so far.

Having declared the true value of stocks and properties as Rs 5700 crores, the ED is now in a tight spot. It transpires that the value of diamonds, gold & jewelery is in the range of Rs 1400-1500 crores. One of the reasons for this is that Nirav Modi used to import cheap quality rough diamonds and divert them after value additional in the domestic market at a very high price rather than exporting them.

Nirav Modi’s Hyderabad SEZ scam

The ED  detected that Nirav Modi's Hyderabad-based SEZ was overvalued in the books of Punjab National Bank (PNB)  huge variation in actual inventory and their book value. The difference was as huge as Rs 3,500 crore. The SEZ on an area of 250 acres was sanctioned by the UPA government and inaugurated by then Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy in 2005 and then it was named as Rajiv Gems Park. In 2014, the name was changed to Gitanjali Gems Park which houses all the five firms owned by Nirav Modi and his associates.  The raids at five gems and jewellery units located at a hardware park at Raviryala village in Maheswaram mandal of Ranga Reddy district, about 30 km from the city. The actual value of 100 odd boxes and containers at the Gitanjali Gems Park, was Rs 300 crore, but the book value in the group’s computers is mentioned around Rs 3,800 crore. This SEZ is the biggest processing unit of the Nirav group’s gems and jewellery. The group used to import raw and uncut stones from Hong Kong and other places and processed them at Surat, Pune and other places in Gujarat and exported them to UAE, EU and other destinations. Shockingly, the there were only 400 employees at the SEZ as against the 1,850 shown in the records. The EPF was deposited in the names of 1850 employees. Perhaps to jack up job data and siphon money as well.

A Cultural Shift at AICC under Rahul Gandhi

We had already reported in these columns that Congress President Rahul Gandhi will not have a Political Secretary like his mother had for 20 long years. It had also been reported that he will hold Public Darbars at the AICC to meet with the common man and interact with Congress workers. It now transpires that Rahul Gandhi is undertaking a big shift in party's policy. His latest Mantra is to buy peace in his own party first and tell party leaders in states to close ranks. Before stepping up his campaign to talk to like-minded parties, he wants that Congress should regain its lost glory. Gone are the days when he was not available and had virtually become incommunicado. He never responded to SMSes, didn't care for the waiting guests and canceled appointments at will. Now he is playing on the front foot and inviting all those who left the party. He has been telling all PCC chiefs that its their responsibility to keep flocks together and spending hours and hours with leaders of each state. The way Shiela Dixit and Ajay Maken buried the hatchet and Arvind Singh Lovely returned to the party fold in Delhi is an indication of this cultural shift. He is also giving free hand to the Chief Ministers with a clear message that they will have to keep the flocks together. The target is May 2019. He told Karnataka CM Sidhharamaiah to do whatever he likes. But he shouldn't ignore other leaders. His focus is Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal, Punjab and even Bihar where the Congress can stage a big come back in 2019 to take on Modi.

Fly on the wall : The 10-day silence in Rs 11400 crores LoU Scam ?

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

The 10-day silence in Rs 11400 crores LoU Scam ?

It is no secret that the diamond business of Mama-Bhanja (Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi) came crashing on January 16 this year when an executive of Nirav Modi went to the Brandy branch of the PNB to clear the LoU. The cat was out of the bag as the handling deputy manager alerted his seniors of something fishy. All hell broke within hours and the top management got in touch with Nirav Modi who was holidaying in New York. His top executives in India including CFO Ambani kept telling the PNB that monies are being arranged. The shaken PNB management kept negotiated fo full ten days and tried hard to persuade Choksi and Modi to to arrange for collateral and matching securities. Finally, the Managing Director Sunil Mehta told the Banking Secretary in the Finance Ministry who conveyed to Finance secretary Hasmukh Adhia who in turn conveyed the biggest scam under the NDA to the Finance Minister. It transpires that Adhia informed the PMO and Jaitley too briefed the PM on the issue separately. Finally, the PNB decided to lodge a formal CBI complaint on January 28 of cheating relating to Rs 280 crores. The CBI started looking into the matter and three days later, it registered the case on January 31. The second complaint amounting to Rs 11400 crores was reported on February 13.

Value of Nirav Modi properties is Just Rs 800 Cr

The Enforcement Directorate bragged within two days of raids on Nirav Modi's establishments across the country that value of seized assets including flats and properties is Rs 5700 crores. However, the valuers and assessors of properties, jewellery and diamonds are still struggling to assess the actual value of seized assets. An informed source in the ED said the total value of immovable assets of Nirav Modi is around RS 800 crores only. The ED is yet to get hold of the actual ownership documents of all the properties if they had not already mortgaged to banks or otherwise. The ED's legal department is still struggling to discover if the properties are free from any collateral for picking up loans. What surprised industry veterans is that speed with which ED assessed the value of diamonds which is an extremely tedious process. In fact, the whole scam of Nirav Modi was to import rough diamonds and export them or sell them in Indian market at a very high price after cutting and polishing them due to his designing skills and high brand value. So far, the ED had conducted searches at over 200 premises of Modi as well as Gitanjali Gems and seized diamonds, gold and precious stones worth Rs 5700 crores based on the “tag value” or the “book Value” of the diamonds and jewelery. The book value cannot be true estimate of the goods recovered. The tag value is highly inflated. In fact, when the banks sanction loans against imported stock of rough diamonds to jewelers, there is no way to assess the true value because most valuers have no knowledge themselves or they look the other way. This is used for over-invoicing and under invoicing. The Income Tax department had also attached and froze 103 bank accounts and 40 properties of the Modi group of firms, but the value of this attachment has not been given by the IT so far.

Having declared the true value of stocks and properties as Rs 5700 crores, the ED is now in a tight spot. It transpires that the value of diamonds, gold & jewelery is in the range of Rs 1400-1500 crores. One of the reasons for this is that Nirav Modi used to import cheap quality rough diamonds and divert them after value additional in the domestic market at a very high price rather than exporting them.

Nirav Modi’s Hyderabad SEZ scam

The ED  detected that Nirav Modi's Hyderabad-based SEZ was overvalued in the books of Punjab National Bank (PNB)  huge variation in actual inventory and their book value. The difference was as huge as Rs 3,500 crore. The SEZ on an area of 250 acres was sanctioned by the UPA government and inaugurated by then Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy in 2005 and then it was named as Rajiv Gems Park. In 2014, the name was changed to Gitanjali Gems Park which houses all the five firms owned by Nirav Modi and his associates.  The raids at five gems and jewellery units located at a hardware park at Raviryala village in Maheswaram mandal of Ranga Reddy district, about 30 km from the city. The actual value of 100 odd boxes and containers at the Gitanjali Gems Park, was Rs 300 crore, but the book value in the group’s computers is mentioned around Rs 3,800 crore. This SEZ is the biggest processing unit of the Nirav group’s gems and jewellery. The group used to import raw and uncut stones from Hong Kong and other places and processed them at Surat, Pune and other places in Gujarat and exported them to UAE, EU and other destinations. Shockingly, the there were only 400 employees at the SEZ as against the 1,850 shown in the records. The EPF was deposited in the names of 1850 employees. Perhaps to jack up job data and siphon money as well.

A Cultural Shift at AICC under Rahul Gandhi

We had already reported in these columns that Congress President Rahul Gandhi will not have a Political Secretary like his mother had for 20 long years. It had also been reported that he will hold Public Darbars at the AICC to meet with the common man and interact with Congress workers. It now transpires that Rahul Gandhi is undertaking a big shift in party's policy. His latest Mantra is to buy peace in his own party first and tell party leaders in states to close ranks. Before stepping up his campaign to talk to like-minded parties, he wants that Congress should regain its lost glory. Gone are the days when he was not available and had virtually become incommunicado. He never responded to SMSes, didn't care for the waiting guests and canceled appointments at will. Now he is playing on the front foot and inviting all those who left the party. He has been telling all PCC chiefs that its their responsibility to keep flocks together and spending hours and hours with leaders of each state. The way Shiela Dixit and Ajay Maken buried the hatchet and Arvind Singh Lovely returned to the party fold in Delhi is an indication of this cultural shift. He is also giving free hand to the Chief Ministers with a clear message that they will have to keep the flocks together. The target is May 2019. He told Karnataka CM Sidhharamaiah to do whatever he likes. But he shouldn't ignore other leaders. His focus is Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal, Punjab and even Bihar where the Congress can stage a big come back in 2019 to take on Modi.

Fly on the Wall : Rahul to hold Open Darbars

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Rahul to hold Open Darbars

The Congress president, Rahul Gandhi, may follow the foot steps of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv to directly connect with party workers and common man. It transpires that Rahul Gandhi's new team of advisers has impressed upon him to spend at least three days a week at the party headquarters 24 Akbar Road whenever in Delhi. While one day will be exclusively earmarked for party workers and common man, the second day will be to interact with office bearers and frontal organisations. The leaders from states will also be given fixed day for interaction with the Congress president. It will be like an Rahul's “open darbar”. The big drawback in the Congress leadership for long had been that neither Sonia Gandhi and nor Dr Manmohan Singh hold such “Open Darbars” for security reasons. But Rahul Gandhi has decided to disregard these concerns expressed by the Special Protection Group (SPG) and conveyed that he would like to mingle with the people freely and hear them out. Rahul Gandhi wants to break the shackles of protocol and norms in the days to come. If sources are to be believed, he will start this practice from early next month.  

Modi Govt. derails Rahul plan, issues eviction notice 

Rahul Gandhi may be contemplating to hold “open Darbars” at 24 Akbar Road from February. But the Modi government has other plans in store and wants to oust the party from its 24 Akbar Road headquarters and other buildings within the next three months. The Cabinet Committee on Accommodation (CCA) has served the final notice to AICC to vacate government two bungalows and also 5 Raisina Road accommodation occupied by the Youth Congress. The notice also includes vacating a residential house in Chankyapuri. The AICC has been occupying these type VIII bungalows since 1976. The CCA's reminded that first notice was given in 2015 and several extensions have been given after the Supreme Court issued eviction orders to all political parties from the Lutyen's Bungalow Zone area. All National political parties including the Congress, BJP, BSP and others have been given alternative places to construct their own party headquarters. The Congress had also been allotted two-acre plot at Kotla Road and construction also began there. But the construction work is progressing at a snail pace. Now the Modi government is determined to oust the AICC at the earliest. The Congress has explained that the completion of building at Kotla Road will take one more year. The Urban Development Ministry is determined to get 26 Akbar Road bungalow given to Congress Deva Dal and 5 Raisina Road bungalow given to Indian Youth Congress vacated immediately and  asked why hefty fine be not imposed for not vacating.. The Cabinet Committee on Accommodation consists of Union Ministers; Rajnath Singh Arun Jaitley, Nitin Gadkari,Ananth Kumar and Hardeep Puri.

State-of-the-art BJP headquarters ready 

Contrary to the AICC which ruled the country for ten consecutive years and failed to construct its headquarters, the BJP president, Amit Shah did a miracle of sort. He has finished the task in less than a year and the new party headquarters at the Deen Dayal Marg near Raouse Avenue is ready for occupation. Shah is determined to vacate the 11 Ashok Road headquarters any time in February when the PM inaugurates the 5-7 floor state-of-the-art building. The building will have 70 rooms-- 45 for leaders and 25 for workers. The 8000 sq meter building which smaller than what was allotted to the Congress, will have a library having 4000 e-books and 5000 on the shelf. A war room on the top floor will be fitted with satlites and connected to all district headquarters. Though a helipad is also being readied on top of the building. But there is nobody to confirm it. The building will have ten high speed lifts and an underground parking facility for 200 cars.

Padma awards; Modi style

Ever since Modi donned the Mantle, the Padma awards have undergone a sea-change. Gone are the days when Governors, Union Ministers and ruling party top leaders used to call the shots. Privately, all of them have been told not to send letters of recommendation favouring persons of their choice. A platform has been created on the website of the Union Home Ministry with detailed parameters to be followed. The names recommended by the high powered committee in this regard were lying on the Prime Minister's table when he left for Davos. Though he landed on January 23 evening, he found no time to look at the names. Reason is that PMO is scrutinizing through its own network these recommendations. If sources are to be believed, the PM did not heed to the recommendations of former President Pranab Mukherjee to award Padam Bhushan to a leading doctor with a private hospital. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Puducherry Governor Kiran Bedi and three other top Union Ministers also met the same fate. Realising that they face humiliation last year, hardly any senior minister has recommended Padma this year directly. By the way, any citizen is free to recommend anybody for Padma award through the MHA website. 

Who is PM's most favourite bureaucrat?

If you think Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia is Modi's most favourite bureaucrat you may perhaps be wrong. Adhia is a Gujrati and Gujrat cadre IAS officer. But he would have been secretary in any case due to his seniority in the government. The favour will come when he dons the mantle of Cabinet Secretary. Its a different matter that even here, he will be senior-most secretary in the government. But the Prime Minister surprised the entire bureaucracy when another extension in service was given to    Parameswaran Iyer, as Secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation. Iyer was brought from retirement and appointed full secretary for two years by Modi. This was unprecedented as retired bureaucrats are brought in service as advisers/consultants etc. It was expected that Iyer will retire after completing two years. But in another rare decision, Modi gave him one more extension until 30.04.2019.