Fly on the wall : Now Modi Mantra for Governors too

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Now Modi Mantra for Governors too

Prime Minister Modi is understood to have expressed the view that the Governors should play active role rather than merely launching books, open exhibitions, attend cultural functions etc etc. No doubt, the governors are not expected to play political role in the state they are deputed by the President. But they should strive to find a role in nation building. It transpires that the PM shared his thoughts with the President, Ram Nath Kovind sometime ago as Governors report to the President on a daily basis. Of course, the Union Home Ministry under Rajnath Singh plays a key role while dealing with the states & Governors. It now transpires that the President was extremely enthusiastic about the idea and decided to take it up in the Committee of Governors which meets at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on a regular basis. The PM wanted that Governors should play a key role in development of the state and should extensively travel within the state and go to districts. Since the Chief Ministers are extremely busy in political management and other affairs, the governors should interact with people and should be seen as agents of change. Since they are the representatives of the Centre, they should take forward the development mantra. They should draw a line between politics and development. Accordingly, a concept paper emerged and the committee of governors submitted a report: Governors- Ambassadors of Change in the society. The issue was discussed at a conference of governors as well last year. But no one got a wind of it. Now that the report has come, a detailed guideline is likely to be issued to be followed by the Governors. The PM doesn't want governors to sit in Raj Bhawans and have good time. They should travel and reach out to the people and create their own identity by connecting with the people and become their mentors. The Chief Ministers of BJP ruled states may not mind this over-reach by the governors. But non-NDA states may not accept it. Even 75-plus year-old governors are also not very enthusiastic of Modi's plan as they want to live a retired political life.

10 Ministers-in-waiting needed for 10 ASEAN Leaders

A search is on for 10 most competent Ministers of State out of a total number of 37 MoS who are to deputed as Minister-in-waiting for 10 Heads/Prime Ministers of 10 ASEAN countries. As per the protocol, all heads of 10 ASEAN countries have to be treated at par. Therefore, ministers-in-waiting will have to be of the same rank for these 10 heads and no MoS with Independent charge or a Cabinet rank minister will be deputed for them. These 10 Ministers of state are being carefully chosen by the Prime Minister himself as it is for the first time that ten heads of countries will be Guest of Honour at the Republic Day parade at Rajpath. These MoS will accompany their respective heads throughout their stay in India who will also attend ASEAN Summit on January 25. It transpires that the PM will return from Davos on January 24 after addressing the Plenary session on January 23 night. Modi wants Republic Day celebration in 2018 to be "remembered through the ages".

The ministries of Defence & External Affairs are working round the clock to cope with the situation as the PM is personally monitoring the arrangements. Even the Dais Plan at Rajpath venue is personally chalked out by Modi. The ministers are M J Akbar, Vijay Goel, Anupriya Patel, P P Chaudhary, Satya Pal Singh, S S Ahluwalia, Jayant Sinha and others.

Changes in RSS unlikely, for now

Intense speculation is on in the RSS whether Bhayyaji Joshi who is number two in the hierarchy, will stay as Sarkarvah (General Secretary). An affable and tough RSS top leader was not keeping well for the past some time. Though he has fully recovered, speculation in rife in Nagpur about his continuation. Sources say Bhaiyyaji Joshi himself is not keen to stay beyond March when the issue will come up. Joshi has held the post for three consecutive terms. However, RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat doesn't want him to go particularly when the RSS is in the midst of massive expansion plans. The BJP, one of the RSS' frontal organisation, also needs massive support for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The RSS also has a challenge to keep coordination among its other 50-odd front organisations. The differences between the BJP and Swadesh Jagran Manch, VHP and others also needs tactful handling. Bhaiyyaji Joshi has been handling all this for a long time. Though there is a competent team of four joint general secretaries comprising of Dattatreya Hosabale, Suresh Soni, Krishan Gopal and V Bhagaiah and also Manmohan Vaidya who is head of the ideological wing of the RSS. But Bhagwat won't like to make any changes at this juncture.

Yogi angry with Centre on new DGP

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is extremely angry with the Centre. Reason ? There is a deafening silence in North Block over the appointment of Om Prakash Singh as the new UP Director-General of Police. An announcement was made 10 days back that CISF DG Om Prakash Singh will be the new UP DGP. O P Singh is the second senior-most IPS officer of the UP cadre and Yogi Adityanath specially requested Rajnath Singh to relieve the officer immediately. The Union Home Minister reported to have cleared the appointment and it was expected that O P Singh will join as DGP on January 3. But all went quiet and no one willing to say anything. Yogi doesn't have the courage to ring up the PM and ask where is the file pending and why. The silence of the PMO suggest that the Department of Personnel may be exploring other possibilities. When it was pointed out that O P Singh is junior to another IPS officer Praveen Kumar, it was explained that Praveen Kumar has just three months to retire. The Centre doesn't permit states to give extensions to the DGP beyond three months. Yogi explained that he can't have DGPs every six months in the state. But Modi was not amused. It is said the Centre is not too impressed with the credentials of O P Singh. It is said that Yogi is relying more on officers of Rajput community and this is not sending the right signal. If the SP and BSP governments resorted to appointing Yadavs and persons of a particular community, no useful purpose will be served by following the same pattern. Now the officers of of a particular caste are being appointed in key positions in the state. The Centre is already worried about the law and order situation in UP. But Yogi is unwilling to relent. 

Four-pronged strategy to deal with Uri attack

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Four-pronged strategy  to deal with Uri attack

NIA collects DNA samples of 4 JeM terrorists

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Sept. 20

A four-pronged strategy is under consideration of the Central government to deal with the situation arising out of the Uri attack by the Pakistan-trained terrorists.

As part of the decision taken on Monday at a high-level meeting chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to isolate Pakistan globally, foreign secretary S Jayashankar cut short his visit to Vienna and returned home to help in executing the action plan. 

The on-going UN General Assembly where external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj will speak, may be the first global test for India. Minister of state for external affairs M J Akbar would raise the Uri attack at a meeting of foreign ministers in New York on Wednesday. It has also been decided to isolate Pakistan in South Asia as well. Since Afghanistan and Bangladesh have already lent support to India, it is yet to be seen if other SAARC nations agree to join India's cause. The SAARC conference, to be held in Pakistan, would be important from India's perspective.

India is also considering option to seek economic sanctions against Pakistan though strong direct evidence will be required to convince the world leaders. India has succeeded in persuading the USA to a large extent to reduce financial aid to Pakistan if not cut it altogether. Another proposal mooted during informal discussions is to consider if India should withdraw the Most-Favoured Nation (MFN) status granted to Pakistan. Though Pakistan never returned the gesture, Modi's policy makers are toying with the idea to call the bluff. But there is no unanimity on this issue so far.

The policy makers are also wrestling with the question of responding to the Uri attack without falling into the Pakistan trap of "internationalising" the Kashmir dispute. This apart, the home and defence ministries have also been directed to put their own house in order. The PM has directed that infiltration from the Uri border was an impossibility unless there is local support. Therefore, all out efforts be made to plug this deficiency. Secondly, the all-out efforts be made to prevent "Fidayeen attacks" particularly in cases where there is advance information. Those supporting the terrorists from across the border be dealt with a heavy hand, is the sermon. 

The government is of the view that Uri attack will help forces clamp down on separatists and Pakistani elements in the Kashmir Valley. The killing of eight terrorists on Tuesday is an indication of the new offensive launched by the forces in the Valley.  One option for the military is to activate the LoC, attacking Pakistani posts with artillery and mortars. The army can inflict disproportionate punishment on the Pakistan army. However, the military has been advised caution on this score.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has collected blood and other samples from the four terrorists who attacked the army base at Uri. The NIA is also examining the weapons, GPS ammunition and maps -- which terrorists carried with them -- to identify and retrace the route they took to infiltrate into India. All this will help India expose Pakistan at the world fora.