Desires are like restless fledglings; if you don’t guard them fiercely, they will fall prey to the crow. Did R K Singh, former home secretary and BJP Parliamentarian make the mistake twice? Sources reveal that in 2014, just before the Lok Sabha elections, when Singh met BJP’s presidential candidate NaMo, the latter had assured him that if the BJP forms a government at the Centre, Singh will get a big role to play in it. Thus, just a day before the election results came in, Singh spoke his mind at an interview done by a TV channel, saying he might head either the home or the defense ministry. This was unacceptable to BJP’s top leadership. As a result, he was not made a minister at the Centre; instead, the party’s Thakur politicians such as Rudy and Radhamohan Singh were given preference. After this, Singh sahib tried several times to meet the prime minister, but didn’t get it. R K Singh’s recent comments against Sushma and Vasundhara can be seen in this backdrop. The responsibility to placate an upset Singh sahib was given to Rajnath Singh, who has assured the former that the party will make adequate use of him for Bihar elections.

It’s good that our king was the chosen one and won, too, for he has to carry out many important assignments. Dancing, singing to the rhythm of drumbeats, when Narendra Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat, he had started a tradition of festivals and celebrations, so much so that no less than 150 festivals would be celebrated in the state. When Modi came to Delhi, this tradition of organizing events became a norm here, too. As a result, for some reason or the other, there is a always a buzz about some event or seminar taking place. A committee of ministers has been formed to oversee these events, and it includes ministers such as Venkaiah Naidu, Ananth Kumar, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Smriti Zubin Irani, whose job is to ensure these programmes happen without a glitch. MP and ministers are put on duty, they are given important duties and the committee makes the ministers answerable every once in a while. For instance, to ensure June 21 takes off as International Yoga Day in a big way, Parliamentarians were sent to their constituency, ministers were made in-charge of important districts and Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj went to New York for the same. The Prime Minister himself went to India Gate and did yoga to open up the doors to new possibilities.

A king has to don many hats – that of a sadhu, a god; sometimes he has to become Dushaasan and sometimes he has to take on the form of dharmaraj Yudhishtir and, sometimes, Duryodhan. A king has several faces at any point of time. The Prime Minister looked more anxious than usual at the Cabinet meeting this time. He was aware of the fact that in the coming Monsoon session of the Parliament, the Opposition will try its best to create a ruckus, will ask for the resignation of Sushma and Vasundhara yet again, and will not let the Parliament function. The Prime Minister wanted to know from his colleagues in the Cabinet if it will make sense to introduce the Land Bill, and what were the dangers of calling for a joint session of the Parliament to pass the required bills. Sushma Swaraj, who was present in the meeting, agreed with the Prime Minister’s doubts, while Venkaiah pretended to be candid and said he was in constant touch with Opposition parties, especially the Congress, and will try to make them see reason. At the same time, Modi seemed eager to listen to his close associate Arun Jaitley’s feedback; the same Jaitley who strongly believes that calling for a joint session of the Parliament at a time like this is a landmine spelling danger.

Whispers are taking on the form of wavering flames, while silences stretch themselves without a worry. Hordes of people may have passed this way, but how come you can’t see any footsteps for a distance? When Lalitgate took over the headlines in foreign and Indian media, and no party member came out in support of Sushma, she tried to get a meeting with the party president Amit Shah. When she couldn’t get in touch with him, she immediately spoke to Rajnath Singh, who spoke to Sangh, Modi and Shah about it. Thereafter, Shah gave his quote in defense of Sushma and the entire party lent its support to her. Among chief ministers, only Shivraj Singh Chauhan gave his views, and Indresh Kumar spoke on behalf of the Sangh. Sources close to the Sangh say Indresh’s quote was given in his personal capacity, because after that, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat called upon Indresh in Varanasi and spoke to him saying he should consult with veteran Sangh leaders before giving his opinion about such things to the public. Sources also say that Sushma met with the Prime Minister on Friday, and offered to resign. But Modi told her that the entire government and the party are behind her supporting her, and she didn’t need to resign only due to a trial by the media. After that, Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh had to call for a press conference and come out in defense of Sushma.

The coffee may be hot, but the thinking is lukewarm. The words speak of a revolution, but the enthusiasm seems to have gone for a long walk. Speaking for the downtrodden and in favour of a revolution for them, comrade Prakash Karat was seen with his wife and sister-in-law at the Sloane Street on Knightsbridge in London last fortnight. While the women were wearing Western clothes, the comrade donned a suit with an overcoat. The embodiment socialism had an umbrella in one hand and was seen taking a walk from Harrods to Harvey Nichols. At a time when India’s summer scorches everything in sight, the comrades seem to find the London climate rather fetching.

Last fortnight, prominent NCP leader Prafful Patel also returned to India after a long stay in London. As was waiting for Jet Airways’ London-Mumbai flight at London’s Heathrow Airport, he happened to spot one of his industrialist friends. The friend had a heavy bag each in both hands, and was taking the same flight to Mumbai with his daughter – business class. As soon as the industrialist friend met Prafful, he told him, “Jet charges heavily for extra luggage. If you speak to them, I might not have to pay it.” Prafful laughed and said, “No problem, it’s a home flight. Let me take care of this.” Prafful had to say the word and his industrialist friend was spared extra charges.

Many masks hang on the wall, but coincidentally, they have faces within, too. Those who refused to wear masks were punished. BJP’s veteran leader Advani is also a victim of his ambitions. In Modi’s times, he might have got a place in the Margdarshak Mandal of the party, but Advani does not miss a chance to let his presence be known. His much-discussed interview about the Emergency had barely left the headlines, when his meeting with Kejriwal has got the spotlight. The entire party and the government tried with all their might to have the Advani-Kejriwal meeting cancelled, but Advani stood his ground. Now Advani has a feeling that Modi is not at all serious about Advani’s candidacy for the president’s post in 2017. So he is now directly communicating with the Congress, Mamata, and Mulayam. Is this a new strategy to put pressure on BJP leadership?

A decisive battle is on between Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley for the number two position in Modi government. Until now, knowingly or unknowingly, Jaitley has had PMO’s veto; all he has to do is wish something from a ministry and it is done. Reliable sources attached to the home ministry say that about seven months ago, Delhi Police Commissioner Bassi met the minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju at his office. He discussed with Rijiju about Barack Obama becoming chief guest for the Republic Day parade and how it would mean more security measures and thus, the usage of more high-tech gadgets and equipment. For this, the police commissioner asked for an extra sum of Rs 20 crore. Rijiju took Bassi to Rajnath, who, sensing the gravity of the matter, thought it best to talk directly to the finance minister about this. But Jaitley turned down the proposal saying the Central government is looking at ways to cut costs. Not just that, in the days to come, Jaitley made some major changes in the home ministry’s budget, so much so that the budget for police modernisation, which used to be with the Centre until now, was handed over to the states. Now the states can make use of these funds any way they want. Rajnath saw it was payback time when the matter of Maran Brothers’ Sun Direct Private Limited reached the home ministry. The matter concerned the sanction of 33 TV channels for Maran from the Centre. The project got the green signal from the information and broadcasting ministry, but it is now stuck in home ministry. Sources at the home ministry say that Rajnath is citing security reasons and is not in favour of clearing the file. This time, the PMO too is on the same wavelength as Rajnath – Modi feels that being strict with the Maran brothers may somehow mean getting into J Jayalalithaa’s good books. Is Modi himself trying to play a role in the balance of power between Jaitley and Rajnath now?

Uttar Pradesh government wants to appoint a Lokpal of its own choice. But the chief justice of Allahabad High Court Chandrachud is not on the same page as the state government. In any case, it is not merely a coincidence that the person whose name the Yadav Sultanate is proposing is not only a resident of Mainpuri, but is a Yadav, too. Mulayam Singh is especially excited about proposing the name of Allahabad High Court’s Justice Ravindra Singh Yadav. Mulayam has also brought the Opposition to his side about Justice Ravindra Singh Yadav’s name and now the state Opposition leaders are also lending their voice in Yadav’s support. The Yadav Sultanate says the name has been proposed neither because he is a resident of Mainpuri, nor because he is a Yadav but because of his talent and efficiency, which has brought him this far. The state’s Akhilesh government has, once more, sent Yadav’s name for consideration to the chief justice. If a consensus can’t be reached about Yadav’s name yet again, a special session may be called for with the aid of main Opposition party, the BJP, and the proposal can be passed in the Assembly. In any case, nowadays, Mulayam and the BJP are a classic case of you scratch my back and I will scratch yours.

After becoming Modi’s apple of the eye, Ajit Doval is now shining like a star in the PMO, too. With Doval’s sun rising on the horizon, prime minister’s Chief Secretary Nripendra Mishra has suddenly been sidelined. Doval is not only working towards sharpening Modi’s newly formed foreign policy, but is also exploring the idea of new strategic relations with the SAARC countries. It is to Doval’s credit that except for Pakistan, India’s relations have improved with neighboring countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka. Sources say next of Doval’s agenda is the Maldives, with whom India’s relations have soured somewhat in the recent past.