Opinion Inside Track: Special case
The Gujarat government put two ministers in charge of arrangements for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Ahmedabad last week.
Narendra Modi has been very firm about turning down requests of his ministers to retain their personal staff, especially if they have worked in the previous UPA government. Even Home Minister Rajnath Singh was barred from appointing a private secretary of his choice. Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan was not permitted to retain his old faithful R P Rathee as his OSD. Paswan got around the veto by appointing Rathee to the Food Corporation of India, though the official spends most of his time in the minister’s office. The PMO has made clear that it does not approve of the arrangement. But the PMO has been less vigilant about the appointment of an OSD for HRD Minister Smriti Irani. Her OSD Sanjay Kachroo, who was last employed by a leading industrial house, had assumed office even before his papers were formally processed. He now occupies three rooms in the HRD Ministry, an evidence of his clout.
Pay for proximity
For Narendra Modi’s rally at Madison Square Garden, New York, on September 28, the organisers have combined American enterprise with Gujarati business acumen to raise a considerable sum. Though a majority of the 20,000 tickets are being handed out free through associations or by lottery, special incentives are being offered to those willing to pay. To be seated near the dais, you can buy a ticket for $1,000 (about Rs 60,000). In addition, there are categories such as ‘gold circle’, ‘platinum circle’ and ‘diamond circle’ sponsors. The diamond circle is priced at $50,000, platinum at $25,000, gold at $10,000 and bronze at $1,000. A diamond circle sponsor gets to see his name and logo flashed on the television screen, sit in the invited guest section and is assured of some proximity with the Indian PM. The arrangements are primarily being done by Bharat Barai, an old friend of Modi’s. Barai, who is president of the Indian American Community Federation, has applied for tax exemption. Meanwhile, Shalabh ‘Shalli’ Kumar, president of the National Indian American Public Policy Institute, is furious at being left out by Barai, even though he is a long-time Modi supporter. He has sent a notice to Barai demanding full disclosure of the funds raised, names of donors and benefits offered to sponsors.
Chinese checkers
The Gujarat government put two ministers in charge of arrangements for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Ahmedabad last week. But it discovered to its annoyance that the Ministry of External Affairs and the Prime Minister’s Office frequently overruled its instructions. In fact, each of the three wings made separate arrangements for the visit. The MEA even flew in the head cook of Delhi’s Hyderabad House to oversee the lavish Gujarati spread that the state government was organising for the guests. Incidentally, during the Gandhi Ashram tour, ashram director Tridip Suhrud and his staff were not present. They have often not been on the same wavelength as the BJP government on issues in the past.
Club class
It is a study in contrast. While the Delhi Golf Club amicably settled the issue of election of its president, with a candidate making way for the eventual winner, at Delhi’s prestigious Gymkhana Club, the presidential contest is marred by acrimony. Several senior members have written protest letters against the low levels of electioneering. Traditionally, a president gets a two-year term but the opponents of the incumbent, Vijay Chhibber, Secretary, Surface Transport, want to break the convention. The media has been dragged into the dogfight with one group spreading rumours that the 100-year-old club could be closed down because it had not paid its luxury and pollution taxes. The fight is between the IAS and IPS lobby, with the latter being led from the sidelines by a former RAW chief who is not eligible to stand for fresh elections because he has completed his term. Those opposed to Chhibber have been claiming that the PM would not approve of a bureaucrat heading the capital’s most coveted watering hole.
Piloting state unit
For Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sachin Pilot, the victory in all the three by-elections in the state was good news after a very long time. In fact, Rajasthan was the state where the ruling BJP had the most decisive defeat in the by-elections. In Bihar, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, the BJP fought against the incumbent parties in power. Pilot, who gave up his ministerial bungalow after he lost the parliamentary election, has shifted base to Jaipur and comes to Delhi only on weekends to meet his children. However, envious rivals are already plotting that he be asked to return to Delhi as party general secretary.
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