NOT A CLEAN SWEEP
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was upset with the lacklustre response of central government ministries to Swachhta Pakhwada (Cleanliness Fortnight). Once every fortnight, one ministry was to carry out cleanliness- and sanitation-related activities in its offices. At a recent council of ministers meeting, Modi told his colleagues to come up with an action plan on what their departments plan to do. Sources present at the meeting quoted Modi as expressing displeasure and asking how the mission could become a people’s movement when ministries were not serious about it. FOLLOWING THE LEADER External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj is very active on Twitter, but the minister with over 5.8 million followers doesn’t follow anyone on the micro blogging site. One of her Twitter followers recently wanted to know why she wasn’t following her husband Swaraj Kaushal, even though he was following her. The minister’s reply was a re-tweet of what her husband tweeted: “I have followed her for 45 years — Cannot change things now.”
JUST AN AVUNCULAR GESTURE
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad’s daughter Misa Bharti was blessed with a son last week. Of the many congratulatory messages that she received on Twitter, one was from her uncle-turned-rival Ram Kripal Yadav, now the minister of state for rural development. The two had a fight on the eve of Lok Sabha election when Lalu decided to give the ticket to his daughter, ignoring the claim of his trusted lieutenant. Ram Kripal Yadav switched his loyalty to the BJP and is now a Union minister. “Not much should be read into it,” a BJP leader from Bihar said.
A CONSIDERED STOPOVER
There has been much speculation about how Modi decided to make a stopover in Lahore, Pakistan, last December on his way back from a bilateral visit to Moscow, Russia. On his return via Afghanistan, he called up Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from Kabul to wish him on his birthday. The Pakistani premier who was in Lahore invited Modi to come and wish him in person. But Modi’s response was not impromptu. He called up external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj to apprise her of Sharif’s invitation and sought her opinion. When she said he should go, Modi asked about the possible “reactions at home”. Swaraj assured him of a positive response. It was then that Modi called up Sharif to confirm his visit.