SP Chief Mulayam Singh wants Amar Singh to bury the hatchet and join the party yet again. But the duo of Akhilesh and Prof. Ramgopal Yadav are working contrary to Amar’s wishes. Ramgopal Yadav has gone to the extent of openly saying that there has been no application about Amar Singh joining the party. Sources reveal that Mulayam had promised a Rajya Sabha seat to Amar Singh and had asked a trusted party person to vacate his/ her own seat so that Amar could occupy it instead. Struggling with being unsure, Amar Singh has also had to vacate his government bungalow at Lodhi Estate recently. He had spent significant amounts of money to make it into a palatial residence. No wonder several ministers from Modi government had been eyeing it, but Giriraj Singh clinched the deal. Giriraj Singh, however, also had to face disappointment when he realized that the bungalow is no longer that luxurious because a lot of things have been removed from there — even the tiles.

Modi is pretty upset with two his ministers who are close to him – one is Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu, and the other is Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar. From Prabhu, Modi had hoped that he will bring in foreign investments into the railways. Forget investments, Prabhu’s train is not even running on the right track. And then there is Parrikar who gives such quotes about Pakistan that India’s troubles mount when it comes to diplomacy. Sources reveal that Modi is looking for alternatives for both of them. He might take some big decisions about these two ministers in the next Cabinet reshuffle.

A few days ago, a secretary-level meeting was called by the Urban Development Ministry about smart cities. It was decided that a team of eight-10 people should be sent to Japan to study the smart city project. The Central government, which keeps talking about cutting costs all the time, has approved an expenditure of Rs one crore for this trip. Then it was decided that a financial advisor should also go along with the team because it is the finance people who come up with the most arguments when it comes to such projects. The ministry has also appointed a consultancy company for the project; in other words, the ministry doesn’t have any direct answerability for the project.

This Cabinet minister who is close to Modi had no inkling that a foolish mistake will cost him so dearly. Just before Modi was to leave for Dhaka, this particular minister asked for some time, citing urgent reasons. Without further ado, the prime minister asked him to come to his residence at 7, Race Course Road. When the minister reached the prime minister’s residence, he brought along an industrialist who has not only contested and lost the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, but his name also features in the coal block auction scam, and there are several cases registered against him. When Mr Minister was waiting for his turn, prime minister’s personal assistants informed him that there was someone else with the minister and also gave him details about this person. Modi somehow controlled his anger, called only the minister for the meeting and gave him a piece of his mind. Drenched in sweat, the minister asked his industrialist friend to come along and made straight for his car. While travelling back, the minister told his friend the prime minister has assured him that once he gets a clean chit in the coal auction scam, the PM will meet him. An ostrich’s attitude, we say.

After being finger-pointed at a number of times for vacationing overseas, Rahul Gandhi is preparing to go abroad yet again. He is bound to board a flight to London the second week of June; Rahul’s birthday is on June 18, and he has been celebrating it in Europe with a close friend for quite a while now. According to reliable sources, he will board a flight to London on June 15. Priyanka and Robert Vadra are going to London especially to attend Rahul’s birthday bash; mother Sonia, however, will stay back in India.

One person is single-mindedly trying to present Rahul Gandhi in a new avatar — as the rising meteor in the Congress. This individual has full confident in the belief that Rahul has what it takes to bring back the Congress’ lost core vote bank. In other words, the Dalit and Muslim vote banks. It is this person who took Rahul among the Dalit families in Mau, and it is the same person who is preparing a vision document for Rahul on how the Congress can get public backing. For this, he has come up with the “Dil jeeto, rajya jeeto” (win hearts, win states) formula. This means the Congress will work with all its might for elections in states such as Punjab, Bihar, UP and West Bengal, and will try to get back in power and form government in states such as Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh. This person in question is K Raju, a retired IAS officer from Andhra Pradesh cadre, who has emerged as Rahul Gandhi’s primary advisor. A Dalit, Raju has decreased the clout of prominent politicians such as Mohan Prakash, C P Joshi, and Madhusudan Mistry in Rahul Durbar.

A new set of controversies have emerged with the appointment of K V Choudhary as the chief vigilance officer. Choudhary has been a high-profile office and his file is with the president for approval. Choudhary has shouldered several high-profile cases in the past, which includes investigating cases like that of Moin Qureishi to the Radia Tapes. As chairman of CBDT, Choudhary has been under the cloud of controversy because of meeting with the then CBI Director Ranjit Sinha. People such as Ram Jethmalani and Prashant Bhushan have expressed their strong disapproval at Choudhary being appointed as the CVC. It is worth mentioning here that it was during Choudhary’s tenure with CBDT that the matter of Nitin Gadkari’s fake companies had come to light; knowingly or unknowingly, it was due to Choudhary that Gadkari missed becoming the party president for the second time. Does Modi want to give a message to Gadkari and Sangh by making Choudhary the CVC? Or is this some other masterstroke from Modi?

Big preparations are on to coronate Rahul Gandhi as Congress president. Sources say that the announcement of Rahul taking over the party reins may be announced at a meeting during the All India Congress Committee’s meeting in September. This may happen at the Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi. It is believed that Sonia Gandhi has been in consultation with several veteran Congress leaders about this, and is set to have one-to-one talks with other senior party members in the coming days. Sonia has made it clear to the party’s veteran members that when Rahul takes over as the party president in September, she will emerge as the party’s path-showing patron.

Muslim religious leaders have always patronized the Samajwadi Party’s governments; after all, Mulayam is a big believer in Muslim votes. When Mulayam was the chief minister of UP, it was said that his government was actually run by the all-powerful Imam Bukhari of Jama Masjid. One can see the influence of Maulana Arshad Madani, head of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind in Akhilesh’s present government. So much so that in western UP, regular transfers and postings can’t take place without Madani’s permission. Madani’s front man Ashu Malik can be seen active in this regard. Malik, who had an ordinary photography shop once, is one of the biggies in SP, and has direct contact with Mulayam. That’s not all — Madani wants Akhilesh to include Malik in his Cabinet, too.

He may conduct himself like a Buddha, but he isn’t one, neither does he have compassion like him, nor forgiveness or large-heartedness. A few days ago when the BJP’s top man was called to Nagpur, the Sangh leadership tried to tell him how a distance was emerging between the saffron party’s top leadership and ordinary party workers, that too within a year of coming into power. It is believed that Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat once again put his view forward that BJP President and the country’s Prime Minister should not be from the same state – Gujarat. The Sangh leadership also took it up candidly with Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari. In the next few days, Amit Shah may make an announcement about his new team. It is believed that it may feature new faces such as Arjun Munda and R Ashok. At the same time, there is speculation that the BJP might get a new party president; Shah might either take control of Gujarat government, or he might get a prominent position in the Modi government. Sources say he may get the ministry of home, rural development, or agriculture. Now even Shah is said to be ready for new responsibilities.