Fly On the wall | Modi's Kamraj Plan

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Modi's Kamraj Plan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi perhaps took a leaf out of the ‘Kamraj Plan’ when he dropped 12 Union Ministers from his Council of Ministers on July 7 and virtually dismissed three BJP Chief Ministers in a row. The shock treatment to party seniors by Modi was no different than what Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru gave to his colleagues who were part of the freedom struggle with him. Nehru was the first Prime Minister who executed major political surgery in 1963, more than 58 years ago. Nehru asked all senior ministers of his government to give up ministerial posts. Be it Lal Bahadur Shastri, Jagjivan Ram or Morarji Desai, they were all shown the door. Nehru sacked six Chief Ministers, including the most powerful ones like Biju Patnaik (Odisha) and S.K. Patil (Maharashtra). More than 16 years into power, Nehru's charisma was on the wane particularly after the 1962 Chinese invasion. Though V K Krishna Menon had been removed as India's Defence Minister, the Congress was facing a stiff challenge at the hands of many stalwarts in the Opposition parties in Parliament. It was in this backdrop that K Kamraj, CM, Tamil Nadu, submitted a plan to Nehru and offered to quit his post. He wanted all senior ministers and CMs to quit and work for the party. Nehru accepted the Kamraj Plan. Later, Kamaraj was rewarded with the party president’s post. Kamaraj persuaded Nehru to bring Lal Bahadur Shastri back into the government sometime later. Perhaps it was part of a succession plan because Shastri was made a Minister without Portfolio, virtually working as Deputy Prime Minister. It is a different matter that Shastri died an early death after becoming the PM in 1964. Indira Gandhi took over with the blessings and support of K Kamraj in 1966. It is an irony that the same Indira Gandhi showed Kamraj the door who became part of the ‘Syndicate” to oust her in a bitter power struggle.

Difference between the two surgeries

Old timers say there is a huge difference between what Nehru did in 1963 and what Modi executed first in 2014 and in 2021. The difference between the method, procedure and style is clearly visible. It must be remembered here that none of the ministers and CM shown the door by Nehru were senior to him. If Nehru was a product of the freedom struggle, Modi had also acquired every post and won after a bitter struggle. His early life in RSS is also a testimony of his sacrifices too. However, Nehru was in a different league and came from a rich heritage and did everything with finesse. The old timers tell me that Nehru telephoned each one of the ministers on the chopping block himself and explained why their services are needed for the party. They were all given party work too. In the instant case, no Union Minister received a call either from the PM or the Union Home Minister. The unpleasant task was given to the BJP president, J P Nadda to ring up each one of 12 Union Ministers hours before the swearing-in-ceremony. It also transpires that telephones to the new appointees were made by B L Santosh, general secretary (organization). Except for Thaawar Chand Gehlot, no Union Minister was given any work even after 45 days. No Central leader has talked to any one of them who are cooling their heels. Majority of them are Lok Sabha MPs and facing huge embarrassment while visiting their constituencies as party workers keep posing difficult questions to them. During the 2014 surgery, the cut-off date was 75 years of age. But the 2021 surgery, the cut-off age has come down to 66 years. The BJP insiders say that Modi plans to install a whole new set of leadership at the Centre and states before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Modi himself is turning 75 years on September 17, 2025. It is said that Modi is a 'Saint in politics” and capable of springing surprises. Is the 2021 surgery part of a succession plan? No one knows.

Kamraj bug hits Congress too

Sonia Gandhi failed to implement the much needed 'Kamraj Plan' to send deadwood and troublesome ministers packing in 2010 or even in 2012 as Rahul Gandhi was unwilling to take over the reins for some strange reasons. She was bitten by the P V Narasimha Rao experience and continued with her best bet i.e. Manmohan Singh. Ten years later, the Kamraj bug hit the Congress and Sonia Gandhi cracked her whip to send Captain Amrinder Singh packing. Obviously, she is clearing the decks for her son who is now batting on the front foot.

Fly on the Wall | PM trimming his beard

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

PM trimming his beard 

PM Modi had confessed to a journalist once that his favourite subject in school was dramatics. Perhaps, this might explain his habit of throwing surprises. During the lockdown Modi sported long hair and an unusually long beard, perhaps he didn’t opt for a barber following Covid protocol. But many said Modi wants to project the image of an ascetic by donning the look of a ‘fakir’ while others said he wants to project himself as the saintly nation-head who helped pave the way for the Ram Mandir — a ‘true Ram bhakt’. Others linked it to a wow not to trim his beard until the pandemic is over. A few felt the PM is going in for a huge image makeover while others said he is setting himself up for something big — to turn himself into a demigod, much like Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore. A few even compared Modi’s looks to that of Shivaji Maharaj. But the PM has proved all of them wrong as he has slowly started trimming his long hair and a long beard. After his August 15 speech from the Ramparts of the Red Fort, the trimming journey has rather been faster. A close look of his latest video released by the PMO while reviewing Covid pandemic, clearly showed his trimmed beard and hairs. With Covid threat receding and restrictions easing, it seems that the PM's barber is back. The Fly learns that during the pandemic, the PM kept the company of only four people including his cook, a masseur and a PMO officer (not Principal Secretary).

A PM without a Coterie
Modi is perhaps the only Prime Minister of Independent India who doesn’t have a coterie or a close circuit around him. Even those who are around, cannot claim that they can get things done. No person; be a Minister, bureaucrat, friend, an industrialist or a family member can claim he can get things done. Even those having access to him dare not take liberties. Those who had free access to him in his first stint are not even around him. The usual refrain in the past was "I have spoken to the PM... it will be done." This word is unheard in the Modi dispensation. It is not as if the country didn’t see honest and competent Prime Ministers who worked for 18 hours a day. There were Prime Ministers like Lal Bahadur Shashtri or Morarji Desai who had no baggage either. But they didn’t have long tenures in power like Modi. More than seven years as PM, understanding Modi is still very complex. He has no family, hates to mingle with the media and didn’t address a single press conference in seven years. Modi has established complete sway over the government, party and even the mother organization, RSS. After the death of Arun Jaitley in August 2019, he is neither compelled nor obliged to consult anybody either. Many think this government is run by two people PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. But they are sadly mistaken. Modi is his own master. If Rajnath Singh as Home Minister was clueless about many key appointments despite being the only member of the Cabinet Committee of Appointments (ACC), the Home Ministry isn't in the know of all key appointments either. This remains an exclusive domain of the DoPT under the PM.

Modi is flexible too
Modi is quick to take corrective steps and not adamant on reversing his decisions either. For example, he changed four Governors in three years in J&K. He appointed Satyapal Malik as the Governor of the sensitive state in August 2018 replacing a seasoned bureaucrat N N Vohra. Malik's appointment caused a huge surprise as he was a rank outsider to the party and nothing to do with the RSS philosophy either. However, Malik was shifted to Goa in 2019 and Modi brought his most trusted bureaucrat G C Murmu. When Modi saw he was not delivering as per his plans, Murmu was also shown the door within two years. He chose to send a seasoned politician Manoj Sinha reflecting his willingness to change and quickly too. This flexibility is rarely seen at the top.

A Message with smile
Modi has his unique style of conveying a message. During a review meeting of all UP Mps, Modi asked state BJP Chief Swatantra Dev Singh smilingly, “Aap Varanasi ke Lok Sabha MP ka bhi hisab kitab rakhte ho? Usko Bhi kuchh Batao!”. Dev was sheepish but the message to all Mps present was loud & clear that they are answerable to the state party chief.

PM’s Pack of his 52 Ministers review complete

Focus on Mega pending projects

Modi to get his 2024 War Team soon 

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Even as the Opposition is grappling to evolve a common strategy to take on the BJP in 2024 Lok Sabha polls, PM Narendra Modi has completed a month-long exercise reviewing the performance of his 52 Union Ministers. The 53rd minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ (Education) could not participate as he was down with Covid.

Highly placed sources in the Prime Minister’s Office told Lokmat the PM split his 52 ministers into 10-sub-groups and meetings were held with each group lasting throughout the day. With some of the groups the meetings spilled over to even for two days.

The free-wheeling discussions took place after each Cabinet Minister made a Power-Point Presentation of the tasks assigned in 2019, targets achieved during two years and likely scenarios by July-August 2023.

The PM reportedly made it clear to all the ministries that each one of them will have to come out with at least two to three projects which could be show-cased before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls to the people. In these free-wheeling discussions, the PM also said that the ministries must complete all the projects by August 2023 as 2024 will be an election year.

For example, the PM is keen that his dream ‘Bullet Train project’ is completed by 2023. Similarly, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar highlighted the preparations for the G-20 Summit which India will be hosting for the first time in 2023. He has been traveling for almost 20 days a month these days.

The review reflected the under-performance of some of the ministries particularly in telecom and education. There is a view that young faces be brought in to develop future leaders. The impending Cabinet reshuffle which is to take place anytime will show-case PM’s War team for 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Fly on the Wall | Modi drawing Leaf out of Nehru

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Modi drawing Leaf out of Nehru

There is no dearth of cheerleaders who have termed the Chinese withdrawal from the finger areas in the Galwan Valley as “historic” win for PM Modi. No doubt, with visuals of Chinese withdrawal created a fervor and a welcome development. But it was certainly not the first time when the Chinese had retreated from the Galwan Valley. They had done it first time on July 7, 1962 by unilaterally withdrawing from the same Galwan Valley bringing huge jubilation in the country and relief to the then PM Nehru. In fact, India had not retreated an inch from the Galwan Valley then. But the Chinese retreat was a trap as they returned 96 days later on October 20, 1962 to attack India. India suffered a humiliating defeat then. The cheerleaders may have forgotten the lesson in history but not Modi. He is aware of the pitfalls ahead and it is because of this very reasons that neither Modi nor NSA Ajit Doval have spoken a word about it. Even Defense Minister Rajnath Singh gave no details when he read out a statement in Parliament on February 11. The MEA has also been coy about the agreement. Reason: If the Chinese have retreated from the Pangong Tso, India has also retreated from the Rachin La and Rezang La hills in the Kailash range. India is now mounting pressure on the Chinese to pull back from the Hot Spring, Gogra in the Depsang Plains. Modi is waiting with a bated breath of what the Chinese will do in the days, months or even the years to come. Modi has been deeply hurt. After all, it was he who invited Xi Jingping in 2014 to Gujrat Riverfront and both were spotted swinging together. But April 2020 intrusion changed the course. He has drawn a leaf out of the archives not to allow the Chinese to take him for a rise.

Business & Border inter-linked

Modi has made two major changes while dealing with China and Pakistan; one is that Business bonhomie and Border confrontation can’t go together and two; External Affairs Ministry won’t be allowed to dominate decisions of the Defense forces on the ground. Modi snapped all ties with Pakistan after his failed unscheduled Pakistan visit in December 2015. The same is being done with China after the April 2020 border row when India was in the midst of Covid crisis. The trade ties can’t be snapped overnight. But they have been put in the slow lane, banned Chinese apps, no Chinese entry in 5G technology and no free flow of FDI either. Secondly, the forces have been given a free hand to deal with the situation on the ground without overriding powers of the MEA. The MEA will be in the loop certainly.

How Modi pipped Rahul

Rahul Gandhi may have inadvertently given pleasure to the “Modi Bhakts” when he said in Puducherry the other day that there should be a ministry of Fisheries in Delhi. It was a faux pas as Modi had created such a ministry in June 2019 itself and Giriraj Singh continues to be the first Minister for Fisheries. But what was drowned in the butt of jokes was that Rahul Gandhi wanted fishermen to be treated as farmers. He wanted that fishermen be treated as ‘farmers of the sea’ like the farmers of the land. But his message was lost and Modi picked up the thread sitting in Delhi. He has a sharp nose, worked quietly and a decision was taken overnight. Next day Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced that Fishermen in 9 states and 4 Union Territories will also be treated as farmers. Shah did not stop at this. He went on to announce that millions of fishermen will be entitled to the benefits under the PM-Kisan and get Rs 6000 per year. Obviously, it will directly benefit the fishermen in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry – all poll bound states. According to the Fishery Survey of India, 2003, the population of fishermen in India was 1.44 crores.

Importance of being Nana Patole

Rahul Gandhi may have been busy launching a blistering attack on Modi on three farm laws. But what a pity! The AICC doesn’t have a Chief of Kisan Congress for one year after Patole quit. Insiders say the post was kept vacant by Rahul Gandhi for his bête noir as Patole as PCC Chief. Perhaps, he may do backseat driving in the Kisan Congress too.

Fly on the wall | Pawar’s mysterious Silence in Rajya Sabha

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Pawar’s mysterious Silence in Rajya Sabha

The entire political class is baffled about the mysterious silence of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar when the Rajya Sabha discussed three farm laws for days together. It was expected that the tallest farmer leader from Baramati who was UPA’s Agriculture Minister for ten long years, will put the record straight. If a leader of his stature had spoken, farmers and the government would have listened to him. He is perhaps the only one who could have told the farmers to end the agitation as farm laws had been stayed for 18 months and has the stature to tell the government also to mend fences and find a way out. After all, it was Pawar who had brought many agricultural reforms during his tenure at the Centre and earlier in Maharashtra. Pawar was very much stationed in Delhi during the session of Parliament. But he maintained a mysterious silence in Rajya Sabha and chose to field Praful Patel instead. Though former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda who takes pride in calling himself “poor farmer from Karnataka” spoke in Rajya Sabha. But he has lost his rhythm and touch. Pawar could have made the difference. But he looked the other way. Why?? No answers are coming from the NCP.

Why PM is angry with Babus?

Ever since Modi came to power in 2014, the Babus are the worst sufferers. Gone are the days when they used to rule the roost and ministers used to eat out of their hands. In some of the ministries, the bureaucrats used to work as brokers between private players and politicians to reap the harvest. They were partying in 5 star hotels, playing golf, coming to the office at will etc. PM Modi talked of this Lutyens Delhi culture in 2014. Since then, Modi has been tightening the noose and Babus are now a nameless & faceless class. The Lutyens’ Delhi does not recognize when PM’s Principal Secretary PK Mishra takes a walk in the Lodhi Gardens. Modi wants to end Babus direct interaction with the businessmen completely and doggedly pursuing ‘faceless’ resolution of grievances. The Babus were crestfallen when Modi had a dig at them in the Lok Sabha saying they are not experts to run airlines, chemical or companies and everything. No PM has questioned their ability to deliver. Obviously, Modi was peeved that Babus are creating one hurdle after the other in the implementation of his policies. He blames them for sabotaging his vigorous divestment program and mobilizing Rs two lakh crores by selling PSUs. Modi feels Babus are to be blamed for it and gave them public bashing. Modi is now hoping for a Bonanza this year.

Rahul calling shots, G-23 crest fallen

Rahul Gandhi is neither Congress president nor Parliamentary Party leader. He has declared he won’t hold any post and rather no Gandhi will hold it either. But he continues to call the shots in the party, Parliament and makes no bones about it. He doesn’t mince words and is rather ruthless in getting things done. The Group of 23 dissident leaders had thought that he would be conciliatory to them after Priyanka Gandhi’s meetings with Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma. Both are part of G-23 letter writers. But their hopes were dashed when Sonia Gandhi sent a letter appointing Mallikarjun Kharge as Leader of Opposition in place of Ghulam Nabi Azad three days before his retirement. It sent Anand Sharma sulking who was in the race for the top post. The shocker came when Nana Patole was appointed as Maharashtra PCC chief. Now the word is that Patole may be given a ministerial berth making one of the Congress ministers resigning. The issue was broached when Patole met Rahul in Delhi. It is said that one Congress minister will quit to make room for Patole. No final word has emanated from 12 Tughlaq Road, the official residence of Rahul Gandhi in this regard. K C Venugopal is gradually replacing late Ahmad Patel in AICC.

The lone winner

The NaMo administration cleared 26 IAS officers of 1988 & 1989 batch to be promoted as Secretary and 14 as Secretary Equivalent. Maharashtra was lucky as Rajesh Agrawal was the lone officer figuring in the list of 40. But he too was made Secretary Equivalent and not as full secretary. Not a good sign for the richest and one of the largest states.

Fly on the wall - PM’s olive branch to Azad

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

PM’s olive branch to Azad

Whether it was an emotional gesture or deep politics, no one can vouchsafe. But it was the rarest of the rare moment in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday last when PM Modi told Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Aazad, “Do not feel like you are no longer in the House. I would not let you retire, I will continue taking your advice. My doors are always open for you.” Azad is bidding adieu to his 41 year long parliamentary career. It transpires that the Gandhis were upset with him for something and hence he was not re-nominated to the Rajya Sabha and left high & dry. It is in this backdrop that Modi made this offer stunning everybody. Modi has never made such an offer in public to any Opposition leader. On his part, Ghulam Nabi Azad made no secret of his chemistry with Modi saying, “Two people always greeted me during festivals and my birthday for many years - Congress president Sonia Gandhi and PM Modi." Aren’t bells ringing!!! The BJP doesn’t have a tall Muslim leader and those in its kitty are hardly of any stature. Ghulam Nabi may be of use for Modi’s international brotherhood outreach having huge experience behind him.

Pawar & Cong disconnected!

There is a long history of love-hate relationship between the Congress and NCP since 1999. They buried the hatchet to form the MVA government. But all is not well these days and gone are the days of Sharad Pawar-Rahul Gandhi bon-homie. Pawar is unhappy because the Congress torpedoed his plans to make him UPA co-chairman and now he is on his own trip. He is stitching alliances with TMC, SP, YSR-Congress, TRS, BJD, Shiv Sena, Akali Dal and others. Rahul is content with the DMK, Left, IUML etc. Even the RJD is cool towards Rahul Gandhi these days. The Congress was left in the lurch when the delegation of 10 Opposition parties went to meet farmers on Delhi borders consisting of Supriya Sule and others. The appointment of Nana Patole as Maharashtra PCC Chief turned out to be the last straw in Camel’s back. Pawar’s reluctance to give the Speaker's post to Congress is part of NCP’s plan, say insiders. Is something cooking??? Watch out!!

Cooking Golden goose

When the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) scheme was launched by Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru in November 1951, had not imagined that it would become a tool in the hands of the rich to cook golden goose. It was to help employees in the public and private sector with employers contributing their 12% share in their accounts. There was no limit for employees to deposit money in their accounts. The interest income is tax-free without limit. For 70 years, the rich employees raked in mullahs. But they did not realize that PM Modi has the uncanny knack of tracking those making a killing. Interestingly, top bureaucrats who are big beneficiaries of this scheme never pointed it out to successive Finance Ministers about rich employees making a killing. The PM sought a detailed report and was shocked to learn that the largest single deposit in the account of one employee in EPF was over Rs 100 crores. It was also noticed that such employees earned tax-free interest income of more than Rs 50-60 lakhs year after year. The number of such huge beneficiaries is 1.20 lakhs employees and they put a staggering Rs 62,500 crores in their EPF accounts. There are 5 crores EPF account holders. The EPF has a corpus of Rs. Seven lakh crores as on February 1, 2021. The scheme was for employees earning Rs 15000 or more a month. The Union Budget has capped interest free income at Rs 2.50 lakhs per year now, down from Rs 50 lakhs earlier. Another loot and scoot stopped!

Biden, So near & so far

When US President Joe Biden nominated 20 Indian-Americans to key positions in his administration, it was hailed as a big win for India and Modi's leadership. But analysts pointed out that Biden excluded those who are considered close to the RSS-BJP like Sonal Shah and Amit Jani. Sonal Shah’s father was the president of Overseas Friends of BJP-USA and is the founder of RSS-run Ekal Vidyalaya. The suspicions of Biden’s not-so-friendly attitude came correct when many close to the Biden administration lent their support to agitating farmers in India including the niece of Vice President Kamala Harris. External Affairs Minister Jaishankar has a tough task in hand.

Fly on the Wall - Why Blame Rahul Gandhi

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Why Blame Rahul!

Why Blame Rahul Gandhi for his usual year-end sojourn in Italy abandoning the Foundation Day function of his party. There is no denial that he pushes off on vacation many times during the year and that has been his routine ever since he stepped into politics since 2004. But why blame him! He doesn't even hold any office in the party. Isn't it? Even Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav left for London with his family. As if this is not enough, another farmer leader and Haryana’s Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala is holidaying in the Rann of Kutch. Want to know where Bihar’s Tejashwi Yadav goes for holidaying? Delhi is his destination and he doesn’t meet anybody here. He is not even seen with the agitating farmers or sending a contingent from Bihar either. Young ministers belonging to the BJP may be sulking as Modi is keeping a close watch on them and a couple of them have paid the price too in the past. But other parties have no such problem.

A Saffron Flag in Srinagar, finally

BJP may have won three Councilors out of the 140 seats in the District Development Council (DDC) polls in the Valley and 72 of the 140 in the Jammu region. Of the three, it won just one in the Srinagar rural DDC. But it is trying hard to capture it by engineering a majority. A couple of Councilors belonging to the National Conference and PDP have already switched sides to the Apni Party of Altaf Bukhari, a local businessman & ex-minister in the PDP-BJP government who floated his own party after the abrogation of Article 370. The BJP is also wooing 4 Independents as the PDP, NC & Apni Party won three seats each. Nobody has a majority. The BJP’s top leadership is working overtime to capture the Srinagar DDC as it will be a great day in the history to have BJP-Apni Party DDC in the heart of the Valley.

The BJP has perfected the art of converting a minority into the majority in many states and this process will now continue in the Valley too. Interestingly, the BJP recently captured the Srinagar Municipal Corporation indirectly by engineering defection of Junaid Azim Mattoo to the Apni Party. Junaid Azim Mattoo was part of Sajad Lone-led People's Conference (PC). Later, he quit the PC in 2013 to join the National Conference and after winning the polls, switched to the Apni Party. Altaf Bukhari and Junaid Mattoo have declared their Endeavour to make Srinagar a world class city. If this alliance works, the saffron flag may fly in Srinagar rural while Srinagar city is already under control of a friendly party of the BJP.

Will Modi Blink ?

In his first term Modi tried to tinker with the Land Acquisition law. But the first Minister for Rural Development, Gopinath Munde, didn’t agree. Even his successor Nitin Gadkari couldn’t deliver what Modi desired. Finally, Modi brought in Chaudhary Birender Singh who too failed. The PM was persuaded to bring back the UPA government’s Land Acquisition law and Modi had to swallow the bitter pill. Now six year into the job, Modi is facing another Waterloo and it is not the creation of the Opposition nor gifted in his lap by Rahul Gandhi. Riding on the massive mandate of 2019, he pushed these Agri reforms. He may still succeed. But the situation looks grim and he doesn’t have too much time in his hand either. Modi's other problem is that he doesn't trust anybody and doesn't share what’s cooking in his mind. Insiders in the government say that he has been advised by certain well meaning people to allow the states to do whatever they want to do with these three Acts. Even the Supreme Court had suggested deferment of these Acts and start negotiations. A negotiated settlement before the Republic Day and Parliament session is a better option in any case. Modi had certainly not bargained for this.

No News is good news

For All India Radio, the agitation of farmers on Delhi borders is no news. Listen to the prime time news bulletins of AIR in the evening slot at 8.30 pm. It seems the agitation doesn’t exist. The entire bulletin is full of government handouts and news sent from states. Why so? The AIR has stopped taking the news service of PTI, UNI, ANI and other agencies. Whatever news is sent by its correspondents from across the world is broadcast.

Fly on the Wall - Modi subtle goal-post shift

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Modi subtle goal-post shift

If you thought PM Modi will hang his boots and hand-over reins of power once he turns 75 years to a successor, you may be in for some surprises. Reason being that Modi has subtly shifted his goal-post from 2022 to 2029. An indication of changing goal-post came at a virtual function last week which largely went unreported wherein he said that a lot of work has been done during the past six and half years. But for India’s growth and development next nine years are very important. Modi had said on several occasions in the past that by 2022 when India celebrates its 75th anniversary of Independence, farmers' income will be doubled and all will have pakka houses, education for all and many more tall promises. In fact, when he came to power in 2014, he had promised that farmers income will be doubled within the next five years. But later, he shifted it to 2022. Now he is talking that the next nine years are crucial for India’s development. Two things clearly emerge from his statement; one that he will be around until 2029 and secondly, he is working hard to win the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Though many of his lieutenants like Amit Shah have said that the BJP will rule India for the next 50 years. But Modi had always refrained from making such tall claims.

Focus on the Bungalow now!

After losing Rajya Sabha seat for his mother Reena Paswan, the LJP chief is working hard to retain ministerial bungalow at Janpath. The 12 Janpath Road Bungalow was allotted to Ram Vilas Paswan when he became a Minister in the V P Singh government and continued since then. His son, Chirag Paswan who is a two term Lok Sabha MP is not entitled to type VIII bungalow. After Paswan’s death, the bungalow has fallen under the "general category". With no Cabinet berth round the corner for Chirag, he may have to vacate the bungalow unless the Cabinet Committee on Accommodation allows him to retain it. One will have to watch out what happens to this “Hanuman” of Prime Minister Modi. His hopes rest on BJP Chief J P Nadda who said recently, “At the Centre, the matter is different. But in Bihar, this is what it is.” Nadda was asked whether Chirag is part of NDA or not. The vague reply given has raised hopes for Chirag.

What went wrong with Ahmed Patel

The sudden demise of Ahmed Patel has left a void in the Congress at a juncture when the party needed him most. It is not as if he didn’t see ups and downs. He suffered a setback when Ambica Soni became the political secretary to Sonia Gandhi replacing him. It’s a different matter that he was back at the center- stage soon. When Rahul took over as party chief, Patel was subtly sidelined again as the scion of the Gandhi family wanted his own team. However, Sonia Gandhi was wise enough and retained him as her chief political adviser until his death. It’s a different matter that Rahul Gandhi also found virtues in him later and he was back in the political game. It, however, remains a mystery as to why he chose to travel all the way to Faridabad’s Metro Hospital in October for treatment when he was first tested positive of Covid. No doubt, he had been regular at Metro whenever he fell ill. Later, he shifted to Apollo hospital and finally brought to Medanta in Gurugram. Three hospitals in two months did not prove lucky to him.

A promoted with demotion

It's strange that Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha got a demotion while he was promoted as new Chief Information Commissioner. He was holding the rank of the Supreme Court judge as Information Commissioner. But the moment he was promoted as CIC, he was demoted to the rank of a Cabinet Secretary. He will lose salary and pension. Interestingly, his four old colleagues will hold SC judge rank while three new colleagues will be in the rank of secretary. A dichotomy created by the amendment to the RTI Act in 2018!

PMO’s sermon to Ministers & leaders, No Anti-China rhetoric, for now

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

• No Anti-China rhetoric, for now
• No Lowering of Guards either

New Delhi, July 10
Without lowering the guards on the LAC in Galwan and other areas, the government has signaled the anti-China rhetoric be kept at low pitch.

The Prime Minister’s Office has signaled to the ministers and the BJP functionaries nothing should be spoken or hinted even remotely in public until Pre-May status quo in restored in Ladakh.

The frontal organizations and trade bodies closely connected with the saffron party have been conveyed to restrain in their anti-China rhetoric.

In fact, no government minister including members of the Cabinet Committee of Security (CCS) has uttered a word since disengagement announcement on July 7. The Modi government is closely watching how fast the Chinese move back to their original positions and holding its horses till then.

The Chinese foreign Minister Wang Li had added an interesting line in his July 7 statement while smoking the peace pipe. He said, “We hope India can work with China to guide public opinion in the right direction……. avoid amplifying the differences and complicating matter so as to jointly uphold the big picture of Indo-China relations.”

Obviously, the Chinese want India to guide its public opinion and stop strong anti-China rhetoric and recall all anti-China steps taken by any departments, states and companies to restore full normalcy.

The boycott Chinese goods call has suddenly gone silent. It is authoritatively learnt that a workable formula is being evolved with the promoters of some of the 59 Chinese Apps to restore status quo ante.

It is in this context that the Tik Tok’s owner ByteDance company is even considering moving its headquarters out of China along with the video-conferencing operations. It means India’s security concerns will be addressed in terms of data safety as servers will be moved to India too. It has two servers already in India.

Authoritative sources in the government say that except for the 59 App ban, there has not been any strong action initiated against any of the Chinese companies by any of the ministries and departments. Even cancellation of contracts here and there by any agency was on technical ground and not because of their place of Chinese origin.

Modi tightens Ministries belt, Cut 25% Expenditure

Railways to cut costs, Reduce Staff, Others follow Piyush Goyal Acts fast

Harish Gupta (National Editor, Lokmat Group)

New Delhi, June 23

Acting swiftly on the directions of the Prime Minister, the Railways and other Central ministries have started taking a slew of austerity-measures to cut expenditure.

The ministries have been directed to avoid

holding ceremonial functions physically and move over to  digital platforms. The Railways under Piyush Goyal and , Road Transport under Nitin Gadkari and others used to hold at least 6-7 functions per day on an average. Not anymore.

The Ministries have been told to cut down the use of stationary at least by 50 per cent and identify areas where costs can be cut immediately by 20%-25%.

Among the austerity measures underway, the Railway Minister Piyush Goyal plans for freezing creation of new posts, dumping outsourced work to companies to involve CSR pattern and rationalizing  manpower at its workshops. On the directions of the Minister, the financial commissioner directed GMs  on June 19 that the traffic earnings dropped by 58 per cent at the end of May. It also asked the zones to review contracts, and reduce energy consumption. There is a freeze on creation of any new post except for safety-related posts. All file work be moved to the digital sphere and advised that all correspondence must be done through secure e-mails system.

Earlier, the Modi government had put on hold all proposed foreign training stints for its officials during 2020-21. Any foreign training needed in “exceptional circumstances” will be permitted, but with the prior approval of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), said the June 15 order. The officials are sent for mid-career training programs to  foreign universities, including Harvard, Cambridge, UCLA, Berkeley, Australia and New Zealand.

Last fortnight, the Department of Expenditure had directed the ministries to suspend all new schemes with funding commitments of up to Rs 500 crore till March next year. The order exempts the Covid-related schemes.

Earlier, the Central government had also frozen increments of DA to government employees and pensioners. It was forced to resort to such drastic measures after the government’s revenue receipts hit an all-time low due to Covid-19 and other problems.

Cabinet reshuffle, party rejig on cards

PM holds high-level meet , Nadda, top RSS leaders present

Harish Gupta (National Editor, Lokmat Group)
New Delhi, June 30

Final touches are being given for a reshuffle in Union Cabinet and Team-Nadda this month.  A high-level meeting took place  at the Prime Minister's residence  where top leaders of the RSS, BJP president J P Nadda and others were present. 

 Two top functionaries of the RSS, joint general

secretaries Dattratreya Honsabole and Dr Krishan Gopal, BJP general secretary B L Santosh, incharge of organisation along with party chief J P Nadda were present. This is the first time after the 100-days long lockdown that the top  leadership of the government and party apparatus came face-to-face. Insiders say that the meeting among the top leaders continued for more than two and half hours where thorough review of the achievements of the party, challenges and short-comings were discussed. 

Now that the Rajya Sabha biennial polls are over and Unlock 2.0 is in the process and the Parliament's Monsoon session is being planned sooner than expected, a much-delayed rejig is likely.  

There is a buzz that party's key functionary in West Bengal Mukul Roy may be brought into the Cabinet and may get a heavy weight ministry. Similarly, Jyotiraditya Scindia who was recently elected to Rajya Sabha and instrumental in BJP forming the government in Madhya Pradesh will be brought into the Cabinet. Similarly, there is a strong talk of Himanta Biswa Sarma may be brought into the Union Ministry who has done excellent work in the North East as a reward for his services.  The party has to win West Bengal elections and the induction of Mukul Roy will have some electrifying effect. 

It is learnt that some of the Cabinet Ministers were also called in at the PMO for a brief period and they left after a while. What transpired among them is not immediately known. But it is clear that some of the Ministers are under the radar for their poor performance. Those holding more than one portfolio in the government are likely to shed some weight.

Similarly, Nadda has been waiting in the wings to have a team after taking over as party chief on January 20. There are three vacancies in the parliamentary board due to the untimely demise of Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj and Ananth Kumar. There is a talk that any of the two women leaders, Nirmala Sitharaman or Smriti Irani may be brought in. There is also a suggestion that Irani be made the party's face of Delhi while retaining Cabinet post to take on Arvind Kejriwal.

Pawar, Stalin, nixed Congress proposals - Lokmat Exclusive

Sonia wanted "physical not virtual" meeting with PM 

All-party meeting on China

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

New Delhi, June 20

No Opposition party leader supported the idea floated by the Congress that the Prime Minister should hold a face-to-face meeting rather than “virtual meeting.” The Congress wanted the PM should call leaders physically for effective interaction on thorny Galwan Valley crisis.

But no one agreed. Nationalist Congress president Sharad Pawar rejected the proposal out-right saying “virtual meeting is as good as physical meeting in the times of Covid.”

A senior NCP leader, on the condition of anonymity told Lokmat that Pawar Saheb reminded that Sonia Gandhi had herself held a virtual meeting with 22 leaders on May 22.

CPI’s Secretary D Raja told Lokmat over the phone confirmed saying, “I personally had no objection to the physical meeting. But other leaders were perhaps not willing,” he said.

DMK leader M K Stalin did not agree either. It transpires that a top aide of Sonia Gandhi contacted leaders personally after the government initiated move to hold the meeting on June 19. But there was no positive response from leading parties.

It also transpires that they were also uncomfortable with the very line the Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi had taken on the Indo-China violent clashes.

This was reflected in the meeting yesterday where a combative Sonia Gandhi raised several tough questions and accused the government of many failed opportunities. Sonia spoke first and wanted to set the tone immediately after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar made the presentation tracing the history of conflict.

But she stood virtually isolated as neither Sharad Pawar and nor DMK supported her line of attack. Pawar said, “issues such as whether soldiers carried arms are decided by international agreements, and everyone should respect such sensitive matters.” Obviously, he was distancing himself from Rahul Gandhi line. Stalin also supported the government on the issue including most Opposition parties.

PM To hold meet with CMs on Lock down on April 11

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

PM To hold meet with CMs on Lock down on April 11

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, April 8

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will start the process of holding extensive consultations with Chief Ministers of states and union territories on April 11, Saturday.

Highly placed sources in the Prime Minister’s Office say this second interaction with the CMs will enable the government to take a final call on extending the country-wide lockdown or resort to easing of some of the restrictions.

The meeting with the Chief Ministers will be held through the video conference as was done earlier. The President and Vice President had also interacted with the Governors, Lieutenant Governors and administrators of Union Territories to directly assess the ground-level situation.

Since many states have advocated continuing the lock-down in the wake of mounting Covid-19 cases and results of large scale testing still in the pipeline, the most vulnerable states do not want to risk human lives. All agriculture related activities in states including of farm labour have already been permitted by the Central government. The Prime Minister is likely to obtain the views of the Chief Ministers about a way forward after April 14. In the last meeting the PM had sought the suggestions of the CMs on lifting the lockdown in a partial/staggered manner. Since many chief ministers have already expressed their views on the subject, the PM wants them to update the Centre their “final view” about the next course of action after April 14.

Sources say the government is exploring the reopening of certain sectors in a phased manner with huge restrictions. But it has not made up its mind  and wants to take a decision only after consulting the states. It is also pointed out that some of the state including Punjab had imposed lock-down even before the PM’s announcement of lockdown on March 24.  Capt. Amrinder Singh, Punjab Chief Minister, is on record to say that he will review the continuation of lock-down on April 10^th evening. It is likely that all Chief Ministers will undertake a review in their own states and apprise the Centre on April 11.   

ends 

“No rising National Trend” says Centre

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

“No rising National Trend” says Centre 

Cases rise 25% in a single day due to Tablighi  

PM to Hold Video-Conference with CMs tomorrow

 Harish Gupta

 New Delhi, April 1

The Centre today put up a brave face claiming that despite the rising number of Covid-19 cases, “no national trend” should be seen in the sudden spurt.

The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi will hold a video conference call tomorrow with the Chief Ministers of state tomorrow morning to personally review the situation.  The PM had last held such meet with the CMs on March 20 last and since then he has been personally monitoring the situation round the clock.

Sources indicate the government is somewhat is satisfied that the crisis arising out of the lakhs of migrant labourers  has settled down. The outcome of any outbreak of Covid-19 in 21486 shelter homes across the country will be known in the next ten days 6.76 lakhs migrants are under watch.

“Next seven days are make or break days” said an official of the government who has been part of the crisis management team of the PMO. The teething troubles on the supply of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), masks, hand gloves for the health care force, is being met on a large footing basis. The 11 task forces working under various top heads is busy finding solutions to each problem arising on a daily basis.

More than 3.48 lakh persons are under close watch of the health and administration in 36 states & union territories and this number may rise further. Though it is keeping fingers crossed as cases of “localized transmission” have come to light in a big way such as Tablighi Markaz. But there is a ray of hope despite the numbers of Covid cases surged to 1637 this evening. This is a massive rise of more than 25% cases in a single day. But the only source of this massive rise is attributed to the Tablighi Jamaat’s gathering at Nizamuddin.

With contact-tracing on a war footing basis, the Centre is putting up a brave front to bring the situation under control.

But figures stare and many questions remain unanswered as three senior officers from Home, Health & ICMR  hurried through the Covid-19 briefing in an unusual haste in 10 minutes.

Ends 

Modi's Un-parliamentary word Expunged from speech in RS

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Modi's Un-parliamentary word Expunged from speech in RS

PM had accused the Opposition of spreading "Jhoot"

Naidu expunges word from Ghulam Nabi's Speech

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Feb 7

The Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, expunged a word from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech in parliament on Thursday.

While bitterly attacking the Opposition (Congress) on the NPR & CAA, the PM charged them for misleading people an spreading "jhooth (lies)". This created a ruckus during the debate which went on late until yesterday. The chairman, sensing the mood of the House, immediately expunged the remarks saying anything said, done or any action which is un-parliamentary is dropped.

Today, his office issued an official order expunging the word “Jhoot” from PM's statement on the National Population Register (NPR).

Interestingly, the Chairman also expunged a remark by Opposition leader Ghulam Nabi Azad “Gumrah” (Misleading). It is rather surprising that the PM had also used the same word “Gumrah” during the course of his speech.

This is the second time that the Chairman, M Venkaiah Naidu had to expunge a remark of the PM from his speech.

In 2018, some words were dropped from PM Modi's comments on Congress leader BK Hariprasad. It was on August 11 in 2018 when Modi had made the remark about the Opposition candidate for House deputy chairman, B.K. Hariprasad, while felicitating the winner, Harivansh. Many in the Opposition and outside construed three words in that speech as an attempt to crack a joke about Hariprasad's initials.

While Opposition members squirmed at the reference, which they thought was in poor taste, the BJP benches too remained stony-faced. Next day, Naidu expunged these three words. He also expunged a reference to these three words by RJD member Manoj Jha, who had quoted them while demanding their removal from the records. There was talk of moving a privilege notice against the Prime Minister for the remark. But it was dropped after remarks were expunged.

PM burning midnight oil on Budget

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

special report

PM burning midnight oil on Budget

Holding one-to-one meetings with Industry Honchos and all

PM's “Bold Budget” in the making 

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Jan. 20

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is burning midnight oil and closely monitoring every key proposal in the making of the Union Budget to be presented on February 1. The grapevine has it that the Prime Minister is summoning every key secretary in the Finance Ministry and discussing in detail impact of proposals to be incorporated in the Budget. He has met secretaries of other key ministries personally to

look into every nitty-gritty.

The Prime Minister is aware of the fact that the coming Budget is being looked upon by various sector with tremendous hope in the wake of slow-down in the economy and job losses. Every sector is looking up to the Prime Minister in the Budget. Though the Prime Minister deployed Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to address issues relating to various sectors and she tried her best. But somehow, she failed to infuse confidence and the Prime Minister took the command in his own hands.

If he met the top industrialists in a group ten days ago without the aide and assistance of Nirmala Sitharam, he is reported to have held one-to-one meetings with top honchos to understand what exactly should be done to cheer up the sentiments. Since the fundamentals of the economy are fine, the Prime Minister wants specific ideas and steps to be taken.

The PM also met economists collectively at the NITI Aayog meeting and individually also many of them. He had wide-ranging consultations with other stake holders; be it real estate, NBFCs, infrastructure and others.

He held a series of meetings with the Council of Ministers .

It is clear that Modi wants to make his “Make in India” program a grand success and revive the Indian industrial sector in a big way by curtailing imports on more than 200 items. His focus is not only sin goods but other bulk items which are being dumped in Indian bazars.

In order to infuse confidence in the Corporate sector, he has directed the Corporate Affairs Ministry headed by Nirmala Sitharaman to de-criminalized as much as 50% such clauses. The government had imposed Long Term Capital Gains (LTCG) tax in last year's budget. Now this may be tweaked to bring in at par with global practices. There is demand that Dividend Distribution Tax be scrapped which is currently at 20.56% or reduce it.The personal Income-Tax rate may be cut to some extent to boost the purchasing power.

The PM's watchful eye forced the Nirmala Sitharaman ministry to withdraw the ITR forms she had issued causing serious anxiety among the tax payers. The PM wants to punish some over-jealous officers in the revenue department. But now it will be after the Budget session.

By all accounts, it will be the PM's “Bold Budget” to be read by the FM.

Ends 

Government wants to de-escalate JNU tension

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Government wants to de-escalate JNU tension

HRD Minister under scanner for poor handling

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Jan. 10

The Modi government wants the situation at the JNU is de-escalated as soon as possible. The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi is very upset with the way situation has taken an ugly turn and failure of the concerned authorities to handle it. It was only after the PM's displeasure that the HRD ministry swung into action and summoned the Vice Chancellor M Jagdeesh Kumar and gave a dressing down. He was told point by point how he failed to take action and visualise the situation developing at the JNU campus and handle it.

He was told to mend fences and also issue appropriate orders relating to hike in the fee structures. It now transpires that the VC may be allowed to hike the hostel room rent charges, the other hikes are being put on the hold.

The BJP, on its part, has also told the students close to its ideology that they should not hold counter demonstrations against the protesting Left wing students. This will lead to further confrontation. The BJP leadership does not approve the way the ABVP supported elements resorted to violence in retaliation of the Left wing students violent conduct earlier. It is felt that formal complaints should have been lodged with the Police and the University administration rather taking the law into their own hands.

The tweet by veteran party leader Dr Murli Manohar Joshi yesterday demanding the removal of the JNU VC may not rattled the party. But Dr Joshi echoed the sentiments of the majority of party leaders that the current VC has failed to run the administration efficiently particularly in an institution which has been controlled by the Left since its inception. It required a very mature handling to control such elements.

The party leadership is also unhappy as the focus has shifted to JNU agitation from the CAA protests. The BJP wanted the battle to be between the nationalists and anti-nationalists on the CAA. But the JNU incidents has shifted the focus which is not to be liking of the high command.

This has also puts the HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal “Nishank” in a poor light. The series of meetings of the JNU VC with the HRD ministry in recent past indicates the Minister's poor handling of a Central university directly under his nose.

Ends 

Govt. Disinvestment plan goes for a toss

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Govt. Disinvestment plan goes for a toss

BPCL, Air India waiting for buyers

Massive short-fall in revenue collections

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Jan. 7

The divestment plans of the Modi government has taken a big hit this fiscal as plans to earn more than Rs one lakh crores by selling a few Navratna PSUs have taken a big hit.

A worried Prime Minister Narendra Modi is now prodding the captains of the industry personally to invest after the major cut in corporate taxes and series of measures taken by his government. In fact, the Modi government could raise only

Rs 17,364 crore through divestment during 2019-20 so far. The plans to sell BPCL, Concor, Air India and several others have not yielded any results.

The luck-luster response even from the foreign investors to buy businesses has made the Modi government to re-work modalities to raise hundreds of thousands of crores needed to fill the government coffers as revenues are dwindling. The GST collections are down by as much as Rs 1.18 lakh crores during 2019-20 and direct tax collections are far below the estimated growth. The short-fall in net revenue collection could be as high as Rs 2.50 lakh crores if divestment targets are not met.

The desperate government is now wanting to sell the BPCL for a song. Though the real value of the BPCL is more than Rs 1.50 lakh crores, it is willing to off-load it for Rs 75000 crores only. The government is now spending less on projects and social welfare schemes as a measure to keep the fiscal deficit in check. The big-bang VRS plan for the BSNL employees to dole out Rs 69000 crores is also being delayed as there is no money in the kitty. The down-fall in the financial markets including the sensex had caused anxiety in the government.

In the global uncertain conditions and growing social unrest in India has vitiated the investment climate. The foreign funds believe in making quick money in the share market and walk away rather than put up long term investment in plants. It is in this background that the government is unlikely to complete the strategic sale of Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), Container Corporation of India (Concor), and Air India by March-end.

The Prime Minister's meeting with the industrialists yesterday has not yielded expected results. The PM candidly asked them to give frank suggestions to boost the economy rather than praising him and economy. They told him in one voice that consumer sentiment required a boost.

Ends