Tridib Raman
The politics of power in Delhi, which until recently had been playing a compliant and submissive role, appears to have undergone a noticeable shift in mood over the past few weeks.Despite all its efforts, the central government has so far failed to muster the required two-thirds majority of MPs needed to pass the delimitation bill in the House. According to sources, a few days ago one of Modi’s most trusted crisis-manager ministers handed him a list of MPs, claiming that “with their support the delimitation boat can be steered across.” This minister urged the PM that “a special session of Parliament can now be called to pass both the women’s reservation and delimitation bills.” It may be recalled that the monsoon session of Parliament has not yet been prorogued; it has only been adjourned sine die. That means the government can summon the session whenever it wishes and does not even need the President’s approval for it. So, moving every step with extreme caution, the power centre reached out to the DMK through one of its most trusted ministers. They were astonished by the DMK’s changed stance. The DMK immediately refused to vote in favour of the delimitation bill. The party said that “earlier they were thinking of remaining absent from Parliament at the time of voting, but even that is no longer possible because the ruling TVK and Congress in the state have together got an anti-delimitation resolution passed in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.” The second name on the list of supporting parties given to the PM was the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference. When Omar Abdullah was contacted on this, sources say he stated bluntly that “in view of local political pressures, he would not even touch the BJP with tongs.” In any case, his own victorious MPs are not fully under his control; of the two Lok Sabha MPs who won, one, Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, has already picked a fight with his father Farooq Abdullah. Then the same crisis-manager minister of the PM had claimed that “four Congress MPs from Karnataka could remain absent from the House on the day of voting,” but when these four were approached they too went back on their word, saying, “When the country’s mood is turning against the BJP, why should we swim against the current?” Besides, the case of the 20 rebel MPs who broke away from the Trinamool Congress is still pending in the Supreme Court, and the Lok Sabha Speaker has also not yet recognised them as a separate group. So for Delhi, the delimitation bill still appears very distant.
Are Some Union Ministers Refusing to Resign?
The inner chambers of politics are also taking interesting new turns these days. Perhaps for the first time in twelve years, the top leadership’s own commanders have refused to obey its orders. It is said that a senior minister from Odisha has clearly stated that “BJP’s own people (he also named a former central minister) are running a campaign to weaken him politically and get him removed from the Union Cabinet.” Similarly, when a senior minister counted among the contenders for the PM’s post in the BJP was asked to resign, he is said to have directly sought the RSS’s shelter, and the RSS came forward in his defence. When a Union minister counted among Modi’s Navratnas (whose name is these days being mentioned for the President’s post) telephoned one of his own senior colleague ministers (who is regarded as a performing minister) and requested him to submit his resignation, the latter is said to have completely lost his temper and said: “For quite some time you people have been trying to malign me; now you want me to resign on my own as well — that will not happen. If you have the strength, remove me from the Cabinet, then I will see what I have to do next.” Speculation about a reshuffle in the Modi Cabinet has been going on for a long time. Now a BRICS summit is scheduled in Delhi in mid-September (around 12-13 September), which Xi Jinping and Putin are likely to attend. So it does not seem that the PM will tinker with his ministers’ portfolios till then. After that Pitru Paksha begins, during which no auspicious work is usually undertaken. That means the only suitable time left for a reshuffle is Navratri, and preparations for it have already begun.
Is there no anti-incumbency against Yogi in UP?
As the UP Assembly elections draw closer, the helplessness and restlessness of BJP’s own leaders are taking new forms every day. In particular, some Brahmin leaders of the state are becoming vocal about the functioning of their own government. These leaders are asking: “Twelve years have passed (of the central government) right before our eyes, on what issues should we go to the people? Neither have the promises been fulfilled nor has there been delivery of work. There is terrible anger among the youth; more than 10.5 crore young people are unemployed and are now questioning us.” One point that is emerging prominently in various opinion surveys in UP is that “despite almost ten years of sitting on the Lucknow throne, no significant anti-incumbency factor is working against Yogi in UP, but there is certainly an anti-incumbency factor in the state which is more or less directed against the Modi-led BJP.” Women voters in the state are by and large happy that “Maharaj ji has largely kept the law-and-order situation in the state under control,” especially that criminals in crimes against women are being swiftly arrested. The BJP’s own opinion survey is also more or less on the same lines: “Yogi is still in a position to win the election on his own strength, provided the Centre gives him the same degree of participation in the process of selecting candidates.” The results of these surveys indicate that “in the coming assembly elections, even if the BJP’s seat count comes down, it can still be in a position to form the government through alliances and adjustments.”
Loot of Government Land in Uttarakhand
According to sources, nearly 7,000 bighas of government land in Uttarakhand is ready for auction. These government lands, worth billions of rupees, are being handed over to private companies through bidding. This is not limited to any one district of the state; in every district, government lands are either being auctioned or the bidding process has already been completed. On these 7,000 bighas of government land that the state government is transferring to private hands, resorts, five-star hotels, wellness centres, townships and similar projects will be built. Behind this is said to be the hand of the UIIDB – the Uttarakhand Investment and Infrastructure Development Board. This board, which comes under the Planning Department, was constituted by the Dhami government in 2023. The objective of forming the board was to bring private investors to Uttarakhand under the PPP model. In continuation of this, on 24 February 2025, Planning Secretary Meenakshi Sundaram wrote a letter to all District Magistrates of the state asking them to identify land for investment by private companies in the hospitality sector and private residential schools and to provide the details. In reality, the authority to transfer more than 12.50 acres of government land from one department to another and to give it on lease rests with the Cabinet, that is, the state Council of Ministers. In other words, the decision that should have been taken by the Cabinet has been fully retained by Chief Minister Dhami himself, because he has become the Chairman of this board under the Planning Department, while Meenakshi Sundaram has become its Managing Director. Now, in the name of the “optimum utilisation” of these highly valuable government lands, they are being made available to private investors at throwaway prices.
Why Are PSUs Running Without Heads?
According to a recent report of a Parliamentary Committee, about 53 PSUs (Public Sector Undertakings) in the country are functioning without any regular head. This report came to light only in August. The most surprising fact is that even large PSUs like BPCL and BSNL are running without regular CMDs. These PSUs are being run by officers who have been given additional charge, either they are seniors within the same company or directors from other PSUs are temporarily handling these posts as well. The question now arises: why is there such a long delay in appointments to the top posts in these public sector undertakings? Earlier, the process of selecting their heads used to begin a year in advance. Is the biggest reason behind this not the fact that the political clout of certain heads is so strong that even after their tenure ends, they manage to secure yet another extension for themselves, even if that extension is only for a year? Let us look at a few more public sector undertakings. In BPCL, the post of Chairman has been vacant since February 2026. UCO Bank is functioning without an MD and CEO; its Executive Director Rajendra Kumar Saboo is holding additional charge, and interestingly, Saboo has also been given an extension till November 2026. Similarly, the post of Chairman in BSNL has been vacant for a long time. Several Port Authorities are in the same situation like Cochin Port Authority, Paradip Port Authority and the Marine Products Development Authority are all running without Chairmen. Work is being managed by giving additional charge to officers. It needs no emphasis that running any public sector undertaking for a long period without a regular CMD creates difficulties in taking strategic decisions and can also affect accountability at the top. According to one figure, the Central Government has a total of 475 PSUs, of which only 291 are operational. About 75 are in the process of being closed or non-operational. Nearly 18 per cent of the Centre’s PSUs are functioning without a regular CMD. In addition, the Standing Committee on Finance has pointed out that 43 per cent of posts in DIPAM (Department of Investment and Public Asset Management) are vacant. Out of 89 posts there, only 51 officers are currently in place.
RSS Chief’s Foreign Outreach and the Ambani Connection
After his successful visits to New York and Toronto, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat is now on a London tour between 2 and 7 September as part of the organisation’s centenary year. The RSS claims that more than 115 social and cultural organisations in Britain are working to make Bhagwat’s London visit a success. If sources are to be believed, top industrialist Mukesh Ambani has also deployed significant resources to ensure the success of Bhagwat’s foreign trip. These days, the Ambani family and the RSS are said to be growing particularly close. In Delhi, Devendra Fadnavis is being seen as Mukesh Ambani’s personal preference, and Ambani is aggressively lobbying within the RSS on Fadnavis’s behalf. This appears to have not gone down well with Delhi. It is being said that it was at Delhi’s instance that “Zee Fame” Subhash Chandra launched a direct and personal attack on Mukesh Ambani. Delhi is also said to be casting a rather unfavourable eye on the elder Ambani’s favourite project of his son, the Vantara project. At the same time, Delhi is reportedly not entirely pleased with the RSS chief’s recent stance either.