Delhi Confidential: Woke Talk

Months after RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat cautioned against “woke people” and “wokeism”, the BJYM, the youth wing of the BJP, has jumped on the bandwagon. Three days ago, the BJYM organised the first event for global conservatives at the Taj Ambassador hotel in Delhi, where academics of conservative leanings from India, the US and Germany converged and deliberated on several topics, including wokeism. The word has currency among western conservatives to mock their critics, but it is surely entering the Hindutva lexicon across the board.

Early Jitters

Before announcing its candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP has started opening election offices in every Parliamentary constituency. So far such offices have been opened in UP and Uttarakhand. Earlier, such offices were opened only after announcement of the poll schedule and candidates. By opening the offices early, the BJP is trying to centralise its poll-related activities and give a message to voters that it is more focused and prepared than the Opposition. It, however, has left BJP’s sitting MPs in a state of anxiety as their names are missing from these offices. Only photographs of PM Narendra Modi and local BJP CM or state president have been put up there.

One Panel, Two Secys

The transfer of Niten Chandra, an Odisha-cadre IAS officer, on February 3 from Secretary, Department of Legal Affairs to Secretary, Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare has led to some confusion. Chandra, as Legal Affairs Secretary, has been the secretary of the High-Level Committee on One Nation One Election since its inception last year. But after his transfer, he stopped attending meetings of the committee. Legislative Secretary Rajiv Mani, who has additional charge of Legal Affairs Secretary, attended the committee meetings for about 10 days, before Chandra once again joined the meetings last week. It is learnt that there was confusion over the capacity in which Chandra was appointed as secretary to the committee. The notification appointing the committee had named Chandra and not the post of Legal Affairs Secretary, so he once again started attending the committee meetings.