Entertainment, not Politics
The Punjab Congress drama is fast becoming a soap opera. While most are wondering why the Congress leadership is promoting Navjot Singh Sidhu at the expense of its sitting Chief Minister, it is imperative to understand that this kind of camp politics is what the Congress thrives on. Whether it is Sachin Pilot vs Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan or Bhupinder Singh Hooda vs Kumari Selja in Haryana, in fact name a state and there will be factions. That is politics and to be fair the BJP has its own fair share of factional politics as was seen in Uttar Pradesh last month and more recently in Uttarakhand where it has a track record of appointing three Chief Ministers in four months. But that hasn’t stopped BJP leaders from taking a dig at the Congress, especially the on again, off again appointment diary of Navjot Sidhu. This prompted Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri to take a dig at the Congress on social media recently when he tweeted that the Congress should perhaps consider imposing entertainment tax on news that comes out of its office. Touche.
The Cabinet Reshuffle
Well with the Monsoon session of Parliament slated to start by mid-July the window for a Cabinet reshuffle is getting smaller. The names are of course doing the rounds as is the hashtag #cabinetreshuffle. The expected names are doing the rounds but with this PM it pays to expect the unexpected. Which is probably why Varun Gandhi’s name has been added to the list of probables that is doing the rounds on social media. But given the short rope the PM reportedly gives his ministers, not all are keen to be brought to the Centre. Such as Vasundhara Raje Scindia, who would prefer to try her chances at the state level. Another probable, former Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal is reportedly keen that he be accommodated in Assam and not brought to the Centre. There were also rumours that Shivraj Singh Chouhan may be brought to the Modi cabinet to make way for a change of guard at the state level; but these rumours have been quashed. The speculation is most intense about four ministries—agriculture, health, education and I&B. But so far it is just speculation that is being fuelled by the number of meetings the PM has been having with senior members of his cabinet and the BJP recently.
Not quite Dhanyavad Modiji
As petrol prices touch a century mark (along with the rising prices of essential commodities) should the PM’s very sycophantic supporters be wasting the taxpayer’s money on large hoardings thanking the PM for free vaccinations (which incidentally were made free also by the taxpayer’s money)? The hoardings are not going down well with the aam admi, from chaiwala onwards. Clearly those who are putting up these in-your-face messages are not doing any favours to the PM, for they have only led to memes in the social media thanking the PM for everything from the rain to the rising sun. If one thing the Narendra Modi wants to avoid is to fall into the “Indira is India” image trap.