Amit Shah, the man who brought unprecedented politics to the Indian political scene, is dead against the formation of Janata Parivar. At the same time, he does not want a big coalition be formed between Lalu-Nitish-Congress and Left parties during the Bihar Assembly elections. Sources say a top-secret meeting took place between Lalu’s close confidante and Member of Rajya Sabha Prem Gupta, and Amit Shah a few days ago. SP’s prominent leader Naresh Aggarwal is also said to be in touch with Shah. Some sources close to Nitish claim that Prem Gupta and Naresh Aggarwal don’t want Nitish and Lalu to contest elections together. Some unpalatable remarks made by Lalu recently are being connected to the same context.

Delhi doesn’t just stand for arrogance, victory and self-absorption. A small bird from the ramparts of this fort should be allowed to fly freely. The country’s biggest media group called for a meeting with its editorial board, and announced that nothing negative about Modi should be published in the next two months. The editors present in the meeting opposed this, and asked how the readers will feel any sense of reliability if this happens. In any case, the newspaper’s image is pro-corporate. So the owners came up with a new plan – at least the headline and intro should not be negative. The editors can use their own judgment when it comes to writing reports. Now the newspaper looks as if the headlines have been forced onto it.

As the date of elections in Bihar comes closer, the list of those staking their claim to the chief minister’s post in the BJP is only becoming longer. Apart from Sushil Modi, this list contains the names of Nand Kishore Yadav, Ram Kripal Yadav, Radha Mohan Singh, Shahnawaz Hussain, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Rajiv Pratap Rudy. The Sangh has also decided that until the elections get over, Akhil Bharatiya Boudhik Pramukh and Sangh Pracharak Swant Ranjan must stay in Patna instead of Nagpur. Surprisingly, Swant Ranjan is putting his weight behind Rajiv Pratap Rudy, while Modi’s own choice of Radhamohan Singh and Ravishankar Prasad are ahead in the race.

P Sathasivam, former Chief Justice of Supreme Court may have become the governor of Kerala as a favour from the Central government, but his bounding ambition is seeking a bigger role now. Now his eyes are set on the CEO’s post of the National Human Rights Commission. Amit Shah himself is working on making him realize his dreams.

When the Modi era ushered in at the Centre, Modi strategists took an important decision to change the power dynamics of those in the bureaucratic circles. They decided to shift those who were at prominent positions, such as secretaries in ministries or personal secretaries to ministers during the UPA rule, to less important positions. But some of these bureaucrats got into Modi’s good books. Take the example of Rakesh Kumar Singh of the 1989 batch Karnataka cadre, for instance, who holds the position at J S-UT at present. Before this, he was at an important post in internal security and has been PS to important ministers such as Veerappa Moily and Muniyappa during the UPA regime. It is worth mentioning here that the Modi government showed the door to IAS Chahal only because he had been Sushil Kumar Shinde’s OSD.

Didi’s special man Derek O’ Brian has a big role to play in taking Mamata and Modi’s relations to newer, more pleasant heights. He met with Arun Jaitley and initiated the solving of several unpleasant matters, the CBI and the Sharada scam, for instance. Trinamool changed its political stance right after that in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Didi and Modi started to talk on the phone off and on, and the Central treasury’s mouth opened up for Bengal. Modi took Didi into confidence before his China trip and managed to sort out matters that had remained unsolved for a decade during the UPA rule – land matters with Bangladesh and Teesta water controversy, for instance. Didi has become softer on the Land Bill, too. She received the PM when he went for his Kolkata tour and the two leaders are set to share stage in at least two programmes. Politics can be heard and seen, just like a cock’s morning cry.

Golden chances are hard to come by, but when they do, one should clench the deal. Didi is probably looking at doing the same, too. She is overjoyed with the result of municipal elections in the state and does not want to wait for a year for the Assembly elections to take place. In her talks with Modi, Didi has indirectly hinted that she wants Bengal Assembly elections to happen before the stipulated time and along with Bihar elections. Didi, who is adept at sensing the political winds, knows that after Sitaram Yechury took over at the CPI-M chief, the party in the Bengal is rife with dissonance, while Congress is facing a leadership crisis and BJP has already lost the shine of Modi magic in the state. Thus, Didi thinks this is a good time to go for Assembly elections – the right time for being ushered into Writers’ Building once again.

Party President Amit Shah has a prime say in significant decisions taken by the Modi government. This was evident by the way Arun Kumar Sharma of the 1987 batch of Gujarat cadre, was appointed at the joint director in the CBI, despite stiff competition from a lot of other names. IPS Rakesh Asthana of the 1984 batch of Gujarat cadre had his eye set on the same post. At present, Asthana is a police commissioner in Surat and is considered to be Modi’s loyalist. At the same time, A K Sharma has the backing of Amit Shah. Until now, he was the special commissioner at Detection of Crime Branch, Ahmedabad and a post that had been created especially for him.

Leading the anti-Modi stance in India, the owners of one of India’s biggest media houses, went to meet the prime minister. This channel with its “Nation wants to know” loop will see its head finish his tenure in November. Sources reveal that Modi spoke to these desi media moghuls without mincing any words and said, “Your channel and media house is projecting my image as a pro-capitalist, and that is not a good thing. As you know, my approach has always been pro-people.” The big timers laid down their arms in front of the prime minister and said, “We don’t interfere with our news channels and newspapers on a daily basis. It will be nice if you can suggest a few names for senior positions in our news channel and newspapers. They will be able to give the correct view of the government and we are willing to hire them.” The offer was a good one and is now taking shape.

The mystery of Gajendra Singh’s suicide, the farmer from Dausa in Rajasthan, who died during the Aam Aadmi Party’s rally in Jantar Mantar is becoming more complicated. There is no political clarity on whether Manish Sisodia had really called Gajendra Singh over the phone and asked him to come to Delhi. After all, Gajendra wasn’t one of those farmers whose crop had been completely ruined. He had 15 bighas of land, and a four-room pucca house in his village. He was an expert at tying turbans, and had tied one on Bill Clinton to Atal Bihar Vajpayee. Sources reveal that he would accept the job of tying turbans for weddings and special occasions and would charge anything up to Rs 500 to tie one. He had been a part of political parties such as the SP, Congress, and BJP, and had even contested elections on an SP ticket about a decade ago. Sources also say that he had come in contact with AAP only a year ago and had decided to join the party. If these sources are to be believed, AAP politicians knew about his quirk for climbing trees and they too were considering it nothing more than a publicity stunt. When Gajendra tied a towel around his neck, one of his legs was balanced on a small branch, with accidentally slipped and the towel became a noose of death around his neck.