This is Narendra Modi’s government but the third anniversary luncheon celebrations were hosted by BJP president Amit Shah. Modi didn’t put in even a brief appearance although he heads the government whose third anniversary was being celebrated.

It is interesting how much Shah has started filling in for Modi although he is not officially part of the government. This year, there were four grand lunch parties to mark the third anniversary and Shah presided over all of them. They were held at the Ashok Hotel in New Delhi.

The media was invited in batches. The lunch was preceded by a oneand-a-half-hour power point presentation on the Modi government’s achievements. Shah sat through the entire thing and fielded questions from the media after the presentation.

Three senior ministers of the government were present: Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and Venkaiah Naidu. But they were mere spectators.

It was obvious that Shah was calling the shots. Such is his authority in the present dispensation. Media persons were surprised by the lavish scale of the celebration. The lunch menu was all vegetarian but far more extensive than previous lunches at the same venue.

The decorations were over-the-top and the Ashok’s giant convention hall was filled with banners, buntings and massive cutouts of the BJP’s lotus symbol. This year’s celebration was so different from events held in the last two years. On the government’s first anniversary, Arun Jaitley as I & B minister hosted a series of dinners for media persons. Modi attended all of them and spent more than an hour at each one, answering questions and chatting informally with the journalists present. The second anniversary merited just one lunch at Ashoka Hotel.

Modi did not put in an appearance but all senior ministers were present including Jaitley. Amit Shah was there of course but not in such a prominent role as this year. Clearly, this year, on its third anniversary, the Modi government had much to celebrate, thanks to the BJP’ stunning victory in the UP assembly polls.

And pride of place belonged to the architect of that victory – Amit Shah.

Worried leaders

Some of the opposition leaders who attended Sonia Gandhi’s lunch last week are worried that the event may have boomeranged on them.

The lunch was billed as a show of strength by the opposition to count its numbers for the upcoming election of the next President of India. But it was obvious from the number of parties that skipped the lunch that the opposition is woefully short of numbers to get its candidate elected. According to one calculation, the combined strength of all those present left the opposition short of 1.5 lakh votes in the electoral college.

This is largely because the AIADMK and BJD, which have overwhelming majorities in their state assemblies and substantial numbers in Parliament, stayed away from Sonia’s lunch.

The realisation that their numbers are simply not adding up forced the opposition to abandon the idea of announcing a joint nominee. In fact, the opposition may not even go in for a contest it is bound to lose.

So the ball is now in Modi’s court. He has to announce his choice for President and hope that recalcitrant allies like Shiv Sena do not create last minute problems for him.

AAP achievement

If only Arvind Kejriwal refrained from unnecessary dramatics. This year’s Class 12 CBSE results are a feather in the cap of his government’s education policy for Delhi schools. Government schools in the capital have outshone private schools with several top slots going to students from Delhi’s government schools.

These students have also performed remarkably well in the JEE IIT entrance exams. These are remarkable achievements, all thanks to efforts put in by Delhi education minister Manish Sisodia and AAP education consultant Atishi Marlena.

The steps they took included close monitoring of schools, retraining teachers through special courses in top educational institutions outside Delhi and incentivising teachers and students to perform better. The Kejriwal government can rightfully count an improved government education system as one of its achievements. Unfortunately, the government’s achievements go unnoticed because of Kejriwal’s confrontational politics.

AAP’s tendency to get embroiled in fights and quarrels on every issue and turn even the most innocuous matter into a political battle with Modi has obscured the small strides the Kejriwal government has made in basic areas that matter like health and education.

After the pounding in the Delhi municipal election, Kejriwal seems to be trying to mend his ways. He is now concentrating on the essentials of governance and reconnecting with the people of Delhi. A priority area is to prevent an outbreak of dengue, malaria and chikanguniya like last year. Can Delhi dare to hope for a healthier and cleaner summer/monsoon season?

Inexperienced Yogi

Even as crime rates soar in Yogi Adityanath’s UP, the BJP insists on blaming the media for exaggerating the mounting law and order problems. Amit Shah blasted media persons at the third anniversary lunch for asking questions on the crime situation in UP. He claimed that the recent murder and gang-rape incident on the Bulandshahr highway was blown out of proportion by the media.

According to him, a similar incident occurred near the very same spot during the Akhilesh government’s tenure but television gave barely 28 minutes of coverage.

The recent incident was aired for three consecutive days, he complained, claiming that the media was biased against the BJP government in UP.

Those present at the lunch said that his body language suggested that the BJP is extremely worried about the law and order problems in UP. There is a feeling that Yogi Adityanath’s inexperience as an administrator is beginning to show.