Ever since he was marginalised by the Bharatiya Janata Party, veteran leader L.K. Advani’s circle of friends in the party has shrunk considerably. Unlike previous years, when Mr Advani’s birthday and wedding anniversary parties were attended by his loyalists and others, including his bête noire Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it was a different story this time. The guest list at his recent anniversary party was limited to family members and close friends. However, the presence of four BJP leaders — Murli Manohar Joshi, Yashwant Sinha, Shanta Kumar and Arun Shourie — raised many eyebrows. Like Mr Advani, these party seniors have also been sidelined by the BJP’s GenNext. This has brought them together and their new-found camaraderie was evident at the party as the four seniors were seated together and were immersed in conversation throughout the evening. The last time the veterans put up a united show was after the BJP’s rout in the Bihar Assembly elections when they issued a joint statement blaming the party leadership for the defeat. It was, therefore, not surprising that Mr Modi had dropped in to wish Mr Advani on his birthday last year, celebrated shortly after the Bihar election result. This time, he was a no show.
All finance ministers are inundated with representations from individuals and professional organisations after the presentation of a Budget, requesting the withdrawal of a particular tax clause. Arun Jaitley is no exception. But while the protests over the proposal to tax Employees’ Provident Fund (subsequently withdrawn by Mr Jaitley) grabbed all the headlines, another move which was ill-received has gone unnoticed. Although he is known to be a hot favourite with members of the legal community, Mr Jaitley fell out of favour with friends from his old profession after he proposed that lawyers would henceforth be required to pay service tax. Upset that a member of their fraternity had put forth such a suggestion, it is being seen as nothing short of an act of betrayal. Mr Jaitley has since been besieged by lawyers with urgent requests that he should withdraw this proposal. In fact, it has become difficult for Mr Jaitley to go to any social gathering because hordes of his lawyer friends promptly descend on him and then proceed to explain why the service tax proposal is a bad idea. Mr Jaitley believed only a small number of senior lawyers would be affected by this decision as he has proposed that those earning more than Rs 50 lakh a year would have to pay this tax. But it was only after lawyers with two to four years’ experience sought a review of this proposal that Mr Jaitley was reminded about how lucrative the legal profession is.
When Narendra Modi took over as Prime Minister in 2014, he issued strict instructions to his ministers on how they should conduct themselves, especially vis-à-vis the media. They were specifically told to keep journalists at arm’s length, not to give them interviews and that all information about their respective ministries should be disseminated through social media and the Press Information Bureau. And certainly no luncheon parties for journalists. But 22 months later, Mr Modi has realised the perils of this one-way communication. Upset that his government’s achievements are not being adequately highlighted in the media, he has changed tack. The old restrictions have been removed and ministers have now been instructed to hold special press conferences to brief the media about the budgetary allocations for their ministries and their future plans. As a result, BJP ministers have addressed a series of media briefings and hosted several lunches and tea parties to project the Modi government’s achievements. Unfortunately for Mr Modi, these press briefings have made little impact. But the media no longer treats Mr Modi with kid gloves. And this certainly makes a change for the Prime Minister.
Now that she is no longer weighed down with the responsibility of holding together a fractious alliance, Congress president Sonia Gandhi is far more relaxed. Unlike the previous years, when the United Progressive Alliance was in power, she is often spotted at her favourite shopping centers. Last week, she took a break from Parliament and dropped in at a well-known exhibition of saris and handloom fabrics, organised by the Crafts Council. Accompanied by family friend Suman Dubey’s wife Manju Dubey, the two spent over an hour looking at the handloom saris from different states and eventually snapped up quite a few of them.
Mrs Gandhi’s presence virtually went unnoticed by the other shoppers who were too busy piling up their purchases. An organiser mentioned that previously they would send a pile of saris to the Congress president’s residence for her to choose as she could not spare the time to come to the exhibition. But that’s no longer the case now. How times change!
The writer is a Delhi-based journalist
