Arun Shourie may not have joined Modi’s Cabinet, but sources close to the PMO say that Sourie plays a significant role in giving a formal structure to Modi’s policies and thoughts. People have not forgotten that about eight months ago on January 23, 2014, Arun Shourie had delivered his key note address on governance at FICCI in honour of Subhash Chandra Bose’s Centenary Year. Then Shourie had clearly stated then that the way the PMO has weakened during the UPA-1 and UPA-2 tenure, powerful ministers had formed an alternative power centre, ministers were introducing departmental secretaries of their liking and were doing what they wanted when it came to running the government. Then Shourie had presented his views that if the government at the Centre was to come up to people’s expectations, it will have to deliver and just like the White House in the US, the PMO will have to be made more powerful. The reins of the government should be in the PMO’s hands, so much so that the PMO should have a say even when it comes to the appointments of minister’s secretaries and their personal staffs. Look closely and you will see that this is exactly how the Modi government is functioning without a hitch on the same Shourie formula.

The desire to have their own TV channels is an old one among political parties. When the NDA government was at the Centre and Arun Jaitley was the information and broadcasting minister, the ruling CPM government in West Bengal wanted to start an exclusive channel but then it didn’t get the permission from Jaitley. When Mamata Banerjee took over the reins in the state, she had similar intentions but then it was UPA-2 at the Centre and Manish Tewari was the information and broadcasting minister and he put didi’s proposal on the back burner. Several months before the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, those close to Narendra Modi had intentions of starting a news channel and talks had taken place about the same with an operator, but NaMo turned down the idea at the last moment. But the CPM started the channel Kairali by forming a trust. In West Bengal, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya spoke to Zee TV’s Subhash Chandra and tried to allocate all the resourced for Zee 24 Ghanta. Several industrialists in favour of the CPM invested money in the same and the channel became a mouthpiece of sorts of the CPM in the state – something that pinched Mamata. But the channel is singing a different tune ever since Mamata Banerjee has taken over the state. Sources reveal that things have come to such a state that to please Mamata, the channel owners have let the channel head go since he had CPM leanings. Taking advantage of the times, Naveen Jindal, who has always been Chandra’s competitor, has started his Focus Bangla channel in the state and it is believed to be a pro-Mamata channel. So to cover Mamata’s Singapore trip, Zee-24 Ghanta sent a team of 10 people to Singapore, and a live telecast of didi’s activities could be seen on the channel.

Jammu & Kashmir has become a part of Amit Shah’s agenda. Shah is coming up with a Mission 44 plan for the state; out of a total of 87 Assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir, Hindus have a say in only 21 and two are influenced by the followers of Buddhism. At present, there are 11 BJP members in the Assembly house of the state and Shah wants to take this number to 44. Smriti Irani just got back from there and Amit Shah also got back on last Saturday. Ram Lal, Ram Madhav and J P Naddha are working on the strategy; Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself has been there twice in the past two months. Looking at Amit Shah and BJP’s strategy, it is clear that the party is going to contest the elections in the state on hard-Hindutva lines. It wants that in the days to come, the Muslim votes should be divided between National Conference, PDP and the Congress. If need be, the BJP may even form its coalition with some small parties just like it had in 1987.

Karnataka’s Reddy Brothers are in a spot due to the changed political scenario in the state. Their properties are constantly being raided by investigative agencies. Employees at the Janasri news channel, which was started in the name of Janardan Reddy and B. Sriramulu, have not been paid in the past three months. The offices of BSR Congress, the political party started by them, has stayed closed for the past year. It is said that even the rent for the office has not been paid for the past six months. The coming days may become all the more difficult for the Reddy Brothers.

Roaring from the ramparts of Red Fort, Narendra Modi emphasized the point that it is crucial that different ministries at the Centre work in synergy and how things between two ministries in the UPA government came to such a head that the matter went to the Supreme Court. Thus, Modi has clearly told his ministers that they should all work in tandem. Needless to say, each minister is paying heed to what their leader had to say and is treating it like an order. For instance, Sandeep Bhuria, a social activist associated with the United Nations was so impressed with the way Narendra Modi functions that he wrote an email to the latter expressing a desire to meet him. The very next day, that is August 11, there was a phone call from the PMO that he will be informed about a meeting on August 12. Sandeep had expressed a desire to meet Modi in his mail and told him that he wanted to make some recommendations regarding the foreign policy. Sandeep got a phone on the 12th saying that he should meet with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj at the stipulated time in the Parliament. Incidentally, a voting on the National Judicial Appointment Commission Bill was going on in the Parliament that day, but Bhuria went to meet the Parliament to meet Sushma at the asked time. When Sushma got the information, she left the session and went to meet him; the meeting lasted for more than an hour. While going, Sushma asked Sandeep for how long he knew Modi. Sandeep replied, “I’ve never met him; I only sent him an email.” Modi government’s veteran minister stood still at his reply.

All is not well in the home of a Young Turk from the Congress, who is said to be extremely close to Rahul. One, the politician lost the last election and things have become so bad between him and wife that divorce seems to be the logical conclusion. Sources reveal that proceeding for a divorce by mutual consent has started; there’s also news that the politician’s wife comes from a prominent political family. The real reason behind the divorce is said to the politician’s roving eye. His wife had caught him in a compromising position with another woman at a five-star hotel in Delhi. Then the congress leader had apologized and the wife had forgiven him. But when the maid got pregnant for the second time at home, the wife realized the matters have gotten worse and so she is living at her parents’ house for a while and completing the formalities for the divorce from there.

In the coming elections in Bihar on August 21, several Congress party leaders can’t seem to come to terms with the Congress’ alliance with Nitish and Lalu. They feel that that the party high command, especially Rahul Gandhi, is not learnt any lessons from the dismal loss in the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress leaders feel that if the party did have to go with Lalu in the first place, why did Rahul Gandhi enact the big drama of tearing the Ordinance, because of which Lalu was declared to be disqualified to contest elections? On the other hand, Nitish is bringing out one problem after another for Jitan Majhi; he had emerged as Rabri Devi number two, but even Jitan has now started to give it back to Nitish. Majhi created a storm of sorts in the state politics by declaring that he had to pay a bribe of Rs 5,000 to adjust his inflated electricity bill despite being an Assembly member. But the matter gathered steam and Majhi had to clarify that he was talking about 1994, and not about when Nitish was in power. Going against Nitish’s wishes, Majhi gave a new lease of life to those JD (U) Assembly members who had voted against the party’s assigned candidate for the Rajya Sabha. So much so that now Majhi has also started to listen to his Assembly members’ requests about transfers and postings, only to prove that he is no rubber stamp of Nitish’s.

Mamata Banerjee’s political enmity with Narendra Modi may be evident to all, but Didi is a fan of Modi’s governance. Somewhere along the line, Didi too wants to adopt Modi-style in West Bengal. For instance, Didi has made a monthly administrative calendar for every government department. She also controls the reins of bureaucrats in the state and it is worth mentioning here that it is the same bureaucracy that had forgotten how to work in the past 35 years. So now based on the monthly calendar, Mamata clearly tells all the departments about the targets that have to achieve in the given month. Didi also does an appraisal of the same at the end of the month; not just that, Didi is personally keeping an eye on each minister’s report card as well.

For Bihar Congress President Ashok Choudhury’s coming days may be tough. If sources are to be believed, his wife Nita Choudhury had taken a loan of Rs seven crore from Punjab National Bank, but the factory could be seen only on the files. After a complaint from the bank, the CBI has been asked to investigate the matter. It is said that it has completed its preliminary investigations and a chargesheet may soon be filed on it.

The BJP is all enthusiasm after the recent public opinion surveys in Haryana. The party feels that somehow or the other, the party will win on its own in the state this time. So now there is excitement among the party leaders to contend for the chief minister’s post. There are scores of the staking a claims and each one has their own point. At this point, there are seven BJP Parliamentarians from Haryana and each one on them is an aspirant for the CM’s post. One is Capt Abhimanyu who is claiming it for being a Jat politician, is from an army background, and lost the last Assembly election from Narnaund, has business in coal and media and he has felt the heat of the Coalgate Scam to an extent and several raids have been conducted on his premises in the past few days. Krishnapal Gujjar is considered to be a Sushma Swaraj loyalist, and it was Swaraj who got him a ticket from Faridabad. He is now a MP from the constituency and is also a minister in Modi cabinet. He has an old business of property dealing and is in the race for the CM’s post. It is said that he also gets along well with Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and his name along with Vinod Sharma was mentioned several times in the CLU matter. Ram Vilas Sharma could not win the elections even during the coalition. Sangh loyalist Manohar Lal Khattar has never won an election either, but he is keenly eyeing the CM’s post. So after seeing so many people for one post, the BJP high command has decided that no leader will be showcased as the party’s candidate for chief minister’s post. After the election results are out, that person will be made the chief minister who the elected Assembly members choose as one.