Prakash Javdekar from Madhya Pradesh and Nirmala Sitharaman from Andhra Pradesh have got the consent from the BJP for a seat in the Rajya Sabha. Discussions are also on to hand over a seat to Shahnawaz Hussain, Subramaniam Swamy and Vaiko.

Will Advani really get no post in the party? It is being said that just like Atal ji, Narendra Modi is ready to play the innings as NDA chief as well.

It is believed that Modi might expand his Cabinet in the second week of July, most probably by 10 july. 15 more ministers may join him, of which four may be Cabinet and 11 state ministers. That is because prior to this, prominent party leaders were lobbying aggressively for their sons and daughters to be made ministers. The maximum lobbying was done by Vasundhara Raje for her son Dushyant, for whom she wanted a place in Modi’s Cabinet. She had got the party a 25-0 win from Rajasthan. But where Prime Minister Modi is concerned, he is strictly against dynastic politics. So, until the last minute he kept repeating that she send a different name than Dushyant but Vasundhara also stuck to her guns. Similarly, Yashwant Sinha was speaking in favour of his foreign-returned son Jayant Sinha, Raman Singh was lobbying for his son, late Pramod Mahajan’s daughter Poonam Mahajan was trying to turn matters in her favour by getting prominent Sangh leaders speak in her favour. Late Sahib Singh Verma’s son had his own claims, Varun Gandhi’s name featured from Sangh’s behalf, Dhumal’s son Anurag Thakur’s name was also in the fray, but Modi maintained his clear stance that he will not like to see politician’s son or daughter become a minister and he didn’t go back on his word. At present, Modi Cabinet has 45 ministers and Modi wants to push the figure to 60. Thus in the days to come, 15 lucky people will hit the jackpot.

Modi have just taken the oath as the Prime Minister, but the exercises are on to give a good impression about Modi government’s policies and image to the public in general; the roadmap is being prepared for the same. Modi has appointed three of his trusted people for this. These three are the same people who set a new benchmark of publicizing BJP’s campaigning and marketing during the 2014 General Elections. That is, Piyush Goyal, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Manoj Ladva. For this time’s General Elections, under the leadership of Manoj Ladva, a team core of Modi’s had started planning and making an outline for his election campaign three-four years in advance. The team studied the election campaigns of the US and the UK. They also got full support from Apco Worldwide and Sukanti Ghosh for the exercise. An entire replica of election campaigning for US President Barack Obama in the Indian context was prepared. A budget of no less than Rs 3,000-4,000 crore was set aside for Modi’s branding itself. The entire publicity project for Modi was undertaken by three advertising agencies – Piyush Pandey’s O&M, Prasoon Joshi’s McCann World Group and Sam Balsara’s Madison World. BJP’s national treasurer Piyush Goyal had a big role to play in bringing them together with the BJP and Modi. In the past, too, Piyush Pandey had run a successful campaign for Modi – Khushbu Gujarat ki. So while Piyush Pandey conceived the tagline for the entire campaign “Abki baar, Modi sarkaar”, Prasoon Joshi had come up with a different tagline – Desh ki pukaar, Modi sarkaar. Spicejet’s Ajay Singh, too, had a prominent role in Modi’s campaign. Piyush Goyal, Ajay Singh as well as most members of the publicity campaign liked Prasoon Joshi’s tagline better, but when Piyush Pandey didn’t change his mind and the matter reached the Modi darbar, Modi approved the Apki baar Modi sarkaar tagline. Similarly, Team Modi’s Nilesh Jain and Anurag came up with the idea of “Achhe din aaney waaley hain”. Modi’s entire campaign in Varanasi was conducted by Manoj Ladva who was sitting in Lucknow. Now Team Modi is busy with carving out a new face for the Modi government.

As soon as Narendra Modi took over as the Nizam in Delhi, no less than 18 governors felt their hearts skip a beat. Most of these governors are old Congresspersons and are considered to be loyal to 10, Janpath. Sources reveal that either veteran Delhi BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra or Yashwant Sinha may be appointed Karnataka governor in place of Hansraj Bharadwaj. It is worth mentioning here that Bharadwaj’s tenure ends on June 28, 2014, and had been appointed as Karnataka Governor on June 29, 2009. A governor’s tenure is for five years but if the Central government wants, it can let the governor go before that after prior permission from the President. Similarly, Gujarat’s Governor Kamla Beniwal, who had given a tough time to Modi will end her tenure on June 24, Assam’s Janaki Ballabh Patnaik this December 10, Andhra Pradesh’s ESL Narasimhan on December 28, Haryana’s Jagannath Pahariya on July 26, and Uttar Pradesh’s Banwari Lal Joshi will retire on July 27. Apart from this, Himachal Pradesh’s Urmila Singh will retire on January 25, 2015, Maharashtra’s K. Sankaranarayanan on January 21, 2015, Shivraj Patil of Punjab on January 21, 2015 and West Bengal’s M K Narayanan is due to retire on January 22, 2015.

But the Congresspersons are already raising a hue and cry about this saying that the governor’s post is a Constitutional one and should not be affected by politics. Some prominent Congress leaders are also citing Section 156 saying no Central government can pressurize a governor to resign from his post. Contrary to what they claim, when UPA-I came to power in 2004, it forced to resign Governors appointed by Vajpayee government under Sonia’s instant instructions. Sikkim’s then-Governor Kedar Nath Sawhney, who was a prominent BJP member with a Sangh background, and Kailash Pati Mishra (a former BJP leader from Bihar) were instantly relinquished off their duties and Balram Jakhar was asked to take charge. Bihar Governor Rama Jois, who sympathized with the Sangh; Rajasthan’s Governor Madanlal Khurana and UP’s Vishnukant Shastri were forced to leave their posts. Similarly, Bhai Paramanand who had a Sangh background had to wash his hands off the governor’s post in Haryana. Sources reveal that Narendra Modi himself is not in favour of immediate relinquishment of 18 governors who have Congress leanings but the party cadre and Sangh are putting a lot of pressure on him. There is a big possibility of a change of guard at the governor level in states that will see Assembly elections soon. But in such a scenario, what will happen to Madam Sheila Dikshit who left Delhi merely two months ago to arrive at the Raj Bhavan in Kerala? But it seems that West Bengal’s M K Narayanan and Maharashtra’s K. Sankaranarayanan might find the going toughest and the Modi government might target them first.

The corridors of power are now raising questions whether Baba Ramdev will face the same fate as Praveen Togadia. It is worth remembering that prior to 2001, Praveen Togadia had a lot of clout in Gujarat and major decisions by the ruling state party, BJP, were influenced to some degree by Togadia. But as soon as Narendra Modi’s sun started to rise in political world after 2001, Togadia was gradually cut to size and started to resemble a bonsai. Sangh and several of its smaller branches faced the same fate in Gujarat. So when Ramdev started to put pressure on Modi during the election campaigning, Modi put up with it until the end of the elections. But after the BJP got majority and Ramdev sent Modi a list of his recommendations for ministerial berths, the latter took offence to it. So much friction was caused between Baba and NaMo that Baba didn’t even attend Modi’s swearing-in ceremony and sent Balakrishna and a few of his followers to Delhi. It was said about Baba that he was following a vow of silence. It will not come as a surprise if in the next few months, he too may have to give the details of his income. Modi has already made his stance clear on black money with the formation of a SIT. Now the challenge that faces Modi in the face is to prove: Na kahu se dosti, na kahu sey bair (Neither friends with anyone, nor foes).

Modi has made it clear to veteran party leaders that he will not bow down to party satraps’ ways. Maybe that is the intention behind Modi’s fanning the political ambition fire in Madhya Pradesh’s Narendra Singh Tomar (whom he has also made a part of the Cabinet) and Kailash Vijyavargiya — to keep Shivraj Chauhan busy in petty politics. To keep a check and balance on Vasundhara Raje, more attention is being paid to party people such as Om Mathur and Ghanshyam Tiwari. Shanta Kumar might get a significant post in the party to keep the Dhumal family in check. Modi is usually happy with Manohar Parrikar, and Raman Singh is also one of those who moulds himself according to the need of the hour. Modi is, however, looking for a new face for Bihar instead of Sushil Modi. Somebody equal to Arjun Munda may be introduced in Jharkhand. The search is also on for a new face in Haryana. Modi needs such a face in Maharashtra that can find the fine balance in keeping a relationship with both Shiv Sena and MNS.

After the results of 2014 General Elections, the BJP’s victory cries are reverberating, the Congress is worried, Nitish and Maya are out and Modi’s confidence is at an all-time high. Among the talk of Modi’s government at the Centre, there is a lot of speculation going on about how his Cabinet will be like. Associates close to Modi reveal that Modi’s government will be “less government and more governance.” Which means the Cabinet size will be small and it will be lean and mean ship. So, Modi might keep ministries such as home, surface transport, Infrastructure Development and shipping with himself. Home ministry because there may be no “number two” in Modi’s Cabinet. Modi will also pay a lot of attention to internal security, which will mean home ministry will have to be a priority. Surface transport because just like Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Modi wants a strong network of good roads running across India, wants to change the way national highways are, and somewhere, he is also aware of the toll gate scams that are going on for billions of dollars with political connivance and in the name of road development. He might also opt for shipping because thousands of miles of coastal area is just lying waste and Modi wants to develop it on the Singapore model. Another task that is a priority with Modi is the plan to connect rivers and for this, Suresh Prabhu from the Sena quota can be made water resource minister. Prabhu’s image is that of a clean and honest politician and Modi likes him personally as well.

The most aggressive races are taking place for four ministries in Modi’s Cabinet. These are Home, Finance, Defence and Foreign Affairs. That is because the ministers in these departments automatically become a part of CCS, that is, Cabinet Committee on Security. The committee has five members and includes the prime minister apart from the four ministers. They are informally also known at the Raisina Hill, where the North and the South Blocks are located. The committee is also significant because their responsibility includes issues such as national security and nuclear power as well. Where Modi is concerned, he wants that in none of the ministries should there be a minister who does not toe the line where instructions from him are concerned. That is another reason Modi might keep the Home Ministry for himself. Sushma and Rajnath both have strong claims to the Defence Ministry, although Rajnath’s first preference will be the Home Ministry. If Modi keeps the Home Ministry for himself, Rajnath will make a move for the Defence ministry. Both Arun Shourie and Arun Jaitley have their claims for the Finance Ministry, but Modi might surprise the nation with a name that is not even being discussed for the post. Sushma and Jaitley have their preferences for the Foreign Affairs ministry as well. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take the final decision on it.