Arun Jaitley is wearing a frown nowadays, worrying about how to make the coming Union Budget people-centric and popular. He says that the Seventh Pay Commission’s recommendations alone are going to cost the national exchequer Rs one lakh crore. At the same time, the armed forces’ one rank one pension demand is going to further put strain on the national treasury. Forming a populist Budget in such circumstances will not be an easy feat. In any case, the role of both Jayant Sinha and Raghuram Rajan has been that of “hatch fund” and their thinking reflects that.

It was quite a task for Narendra Modi to make Amit Shah the party president for another three years. For someone full of self-importance, it can’t be easy to go and knock on people’s doors. But for his Gujarati friend, Modi didn’t let anything get in the way. He had several rounds of talks with the Sangh about this, and the rest of it was taken care of by Nitin Gadkari, who has recently emerged as a staunch loyalist of Modi. It is said that under pressure from his family, Gadkari thought it better to stay in the government rather than go with the Sangh, and this worked in Shah’s favour. That is because as the party’s next president, Nitin Gadkari had emerged as the unanimous choice of the Sangh. Once Gadkari was on board, it wasn’t tough for Modi to get Sangh and other party leaders see his point of view. This time, Amit Shah might take great care in choosing his team and will put his stakes on people who will win. Thus, in Team Shah you might see faces that have a rebellious image. But these people have influence in their native states. Thus, you might see in Shah’s team a large number of such leaders who can’t be put in the “pet” category. Sources say about three to four ministers from the Centre might be put to serving the organization. And because the Budget session is due on February 23, Modi might bring about a big change in his Cabinet before that. Ministers above 75 years of age might be relieved of their services in the Cabinet. Considering Assembly elections in seven states, the exercise to include them in the Cabinet might be carried out. Several heavyweight ministers might see their portfolios being changed, and those who handle more than one ministry might see their responsibilities decreasing. But the date of this reshuffle is probably known to only the prime minister and no one else.

A few days ago, Zee’s Subhash Chandra’s autobiography was launched at the prime minister’s residence. On the occasion, several known personalities were seen at 7, Race Course Road. The invitation was sent to Amar Singh and to Mulayam Singh as well. So both came to the event together. During the event, the prime minister went to Mulayam to speak to him on at least two occasions, but didn’t give any leverage to Amar Singh, even though he was sitting next to Mulayam. It was then that people realised why, despite having great relations with Arun Jaitley and Amit Shah, the saffron party did not open its doors for Amar Singh.

As UP elections come closer, moves are on for big political upheavals in the state, too. Sensing the change in political winds in the state, dozens of SP leaders from Purvanchal and western UP are eager to leave the cycle and ride the elephant instead. They can be seen lobbying aggressively to get a BSP ticket; at the same time, a big and powerful Thakur lobby from the SP is looking at an opportune time to join the BJP. They are said to be in constant touch with Rajnath Singh.

As the whispers of an impending reshuffle in the Cabinet become louder, Central ministers who are touching 75 years of age can sense their heartbeats become faster. Because UP will see Assembly elections next year, there is lesser possibility that by ousting a prominent Brahmin leader like Kalraj Mishra, the BJP UP will risk the ire of Brahmin voters in the state. Now for Najma apa, so she can be seen working for eight to 10 hours in her office every day. She also briefs her department secretary about it so that the proactive image of her ministry reaches the PMO.

A few days ago, Central Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha invites some journalists to his residence for lunch, and in conversation confessed that he had been asked to head the BJP’s administrative duties in UP, but for now, he had politely turned down the offer. Now some excited BJP leaders are hell-bent on making this look like cowardice on Sinha’s part.

As the Modi government’s graph falls steadily, the Congress is finding it hard to rein in its joy. Just a week ago, the Congress organized a nationwide survey to explore possibilities for itself. The results have given a new lease of life to the party. From 45, the Congress can see its count pass a 100. It can see itself getting five seats in Bihar, 11 in UP, nine in MP, and 11 in Gujarat. Although 2019 is still three years away, the Congress is already pulling up its socks for the General Elections.

Modi government is giving its all to pacify and placate Tamil queen Jayalalithaa. In the past few days, at least three Central ministers have gone to Chennai to meet her. First Arun Jaitley met with her, and then it was Venkaiah Naidu who went to Chennai to see her and wish her a happy new year, where he had a long discussion with the Tamil Nadu chief minister. The BJP wants an alliance with the AIDMK for the coming Assembly elections in the state. Sources say that Venkaiah Naidu has even made an offer to Jayalalithaa saying that if she leaves 25 seats for the BJP, the saffron party is open to an election alliance with her party. But Amma is extremely miffed with the Modi government; she feels the Central government didn’t help her much with legal matters as much as it could, and as it had promised. Then Law Minister Sadanand Gowda himself went to meet Jayalalithaa in Chennai. Sources say Gowda told Amma, “We can’t do too much about the legal cases that are in the court against you, but yes, we won’t push them forward.” Amma replied back dryly, saying, “All right, then. In that case, no election alliance can take place between us and you. What I can do for the BJP is not to contest a candidate from Kanyakumari, and one or two other constituencies, so that the BJP can be assured of a win there.” Sadanand Gowda returned with a long face.

The Assam Assembly elections are due this February, and the politics of alliances have reached a decisive and feverish pitch. Both the BJP and the Congress are trying with all their might to court the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP). The two groups in the AGP – Prafful Mahant and Atul Bora groups – have their own take on the matter. Prafful Mahant is strictly against going with the BJP for the election, and wants to make an alliance with the Congress and AIUDF. Mahant openly believes that BJP is a businessman party, and only see its own benefits and profits. After all, what happened to the NDA and its allied parties after the Bihar Assembly elections is no secret. On the other hand, the Bora group is keen on going with the BJP. The leaders from his group met Ram Madhav in secret a few days ago, but the talks weren’t fruitful.

A few days ago, Bihar’s Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and former Chief Minister Jiten Manjhi happened to meet each other on a flight. Sources say Manjhi requested Nitish to bury the hatchet, and also agreed that he had made the wrong decision of going with the BJP. When Nitish asked the reason for this, Manjhi said, “People in the BJP had promised me a seat in the Rajya Sabha after the election. Now I keep asking for time to meet Modi or Shah, and I don’t even get that.” It is said that Manjhi indicated in the conversation that he would like to go with Lalu, and that he has also had a decisive talk with him about the same.