Prime Minister Modi raised a lot of eyebrows when he arrived at the banquet hosted by President Mukherjee for his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the Rashtrapati Bhavan last week. Although it is specified that the dress code for these formal occasions is the traditional bandgala or national dress, Mr Modi did not follow this script. Instead, the PM chose to wear cream trousers and a dark grey jacket with a red and black scarf which was teamed with a matching kerchief in his breast pocket. Brown shoes completed the outfit, better suited for a casual luncheon than a state banquet. Needless to say, Mr Modi’s clothes immediately became a subject of animated discussion as several old-timers were aghast that the Prime Minister had not worn the bandgala.
Congress leaders were the first off the mark. A former minister waylaid a BJP minister who had dutifully followed the dress code and told him in mock seriousness that he could end up losing his job as he was overdressed for the occasion.
Just when the BJP’s floor managers were congratulating themselves that the Winter Session had got off to a smooth start, they were embarrassed by the spate of communal statements made by their party MPs and Sangh Parivar affiliates. The party’s Lok Sabha MP Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank set the ball rolling when he declared during a debate that India’s “knowledge and science do not lack anything” and that a 2nd century BC sage, Kanad, had conducted a nuclear test lakhs of years ago. A senior BJP minister later called Mr Nishank to his room and tried to reason with him that his claims were based on mythological tales and did not have any scientific basis. But an adamant Mr Nishank insisted that he was right and that several books had been written about the nuclear tests conducted by sage Kanad. While promising to return with these books, the MP was horrified that he was actually being questioned on this issue. Unable to convince Mr Nishank, the BJP minister eventually gave up in despair.
Union surface transport minister Nitin Gadkari is easily one of the most enthusiastic members of Modi’s Cabinet. But his eagerness to please all has become a source of concern for the government. His colleagues maintain that the rate at which the minister is doling out promises, they could end up having to do a lot of explaining to the people. A minister can be hauled up before the parliamentary panel by unhappy members if the assurances given by him on the floor of the House are not met. But Mr Gadkari is undeterred. While replying to a debate in Parliament recently, he gave 50 odd assurances in response to suggestions by MPs.
Mr Gadkari does not need too much encouragement to hold forth on his future plans as minister for road transport, highways and shipping. He never fails to remind that he has the credentials for this job given his success as minister of PWD in Maharashtra. A diehard optimist, his constant refrain is “Hundred per cent it will be done”, whenever he is asked about his ministry’s projects.
Jitender Reddy, the TRS MP from Mahbubnagar, has been appointed floor leader of his party in the LS though he is better known as the chairman of the JPC on food. Mr Reddy has endeared himself to his colleagues and the media ever since he took over this post and introduced new dishes like Hyderabadi biryani, mirchi ka salan, shahi tukda, kebabs and qhurbani ka meetha in the Parliament canteen. A conversation with Mr Reddy is invariably centered around the changes he has brought about in the menu and his future plans. A beaming Mr Reddy reels out figures to tell you how the demand for Hyderabadi biryani is steadily going up.
Although Mr Reddy is usually happy to discuss food with mediapersons, he is often inundated with complaints about the dishes not being up to the mark. That’s when he remembers his other role. “You always want to talk about food with me but I am also the floor leader of my party… why don’t you ask me about my contributions in the LS,” he says. But, his biryani blues continue.
The writer is a Delhi-based journalist
