SounD, ligHt, action, tHe gaDkari Way

Union Highways and Shipping Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has certainly emerged as the “top asset” in PM Modi’s Cabinet. A little bird sitting in the Prime Minister’s Office tells us that they are keeping a regular track of Gadkari’s projects nearing completion. Encouraged, Gadkari’s ministry is also sharing the minute details of these projects, spread across the country, with the South Block so that PM Modi can choose to inaugurate them as per his convenience. This will add significant value to the Modi government’s “a project a day” plan till the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. As many as 205 highway projects are ready for inauguration before April 2019. The number of highway projects ready for foundation stone laying is 118. About 150 port projects are ready for inauguration and foundation stone laying. The total cost of all the projects under Gadkari’s belt is believed to be Rs 1.8 lakh crore. The PMO seems to be convinced that if “action” is really happening, it is in Gadkari’s ministry, across Parliament House. At the same time, nearly 12 ministers have been identified as a “liability”.