Change of Guard In Bihar

It was an open secret that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is not the man he once was. Advancing age and bouts of absent-mindedness reduced his public appearances and governing a complex state weighed heavily on him. Kumar’s decision to opt for a Rajya Sabha berth marks the end of an era. Except for short breaks and two failed alliances with RJD, the JD(U) boss has been Bihar chief minister since 2005. His ascent was rapid after initially playing second fiddle to RJD chief Lalu Prasad.

Lalu and Nitish are very different politicians despite being cut from the Mandal cloth. It was more than 11 years after Kumar chose his own path, and the two men ran the race for political supremacy for a long time. For most of the time, the Kurmi from Nalanda lagged the Yadav but his decision to team up with BJP stitched a formidable alliance between forward castes and a big section of non-Yadav backwards.

Now, the baton will pass to BJP in keeping with the respective legislative strengths of the two parties. The names of BJP leaders Nityanand Rai, a Yadav, and Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary, a Kushwaha, are doing the rounds while Kumar’s son, Nishant Kumar, is set to be inducted in the Bihar government. Since Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh has not been re-nominated, there will be a new JD(U) nominee. The changeover was in the works for a while with a senior JD(U) leader working as a bridge with BJP to bring about a much-needed change of guard.

Carney’s Business Agenda

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney spent two full days in Mumbai before meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. This was because he came with a businessheavy agenda, which according to the Ministry of External Affairs, included meetings with Indian and Canadian CEOs, industry and financial experts, innovators, educators and, importantly, with Canadian Pension Funds based in India. The pension funds represent investments for the long term. Despite the downturns in India-Canada relations, Canadian pension funds are bullish about India. Carney wants to step up the engagement and open new areas of collaboration.

Yogi in Japan

Unusually, for Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the leader was in the news for his travels to Singapore and Japan. Unlike most other chief ministers, Yogi has not travelled abroad much and has been largely content in operating from his home base as he looks to attract investment and modernise UP’s industry. He met Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and while in Japan, he met Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, besides several leading industrialists. The wide publicity for the visits marks a new turn for the chief minister, often referred to as “Baba” and “Maharaj”.

Sukhu’s Troubles

The attempts of Himachal Pradesh police to prevent Delhi Police from detaining and transporting Youth Congress members under investigation for the “shirtless” protest at the AI Summit proved fruitless. The prod to try and delay things clearly came from higher levels of the state government and now Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has been accused by BJP MLA Randhir Sharma of being the “mastermind” behind the protests that drew widespread condemnation. While the Congress leadership backed the protest, the charge of ‘defaming’ the nation is hurtful and a more grounded politician like Sukhu knows it.

Nabin's Touch

BJP President Nitin Nabin is taking his duties seriously and is a regular presence at the party office in New Delhi. This is a welcome move as the buzz of party activity had been absent during what proved a lengthy transition period. Nabin’s presence and meetings with party functionaries has led to various cells dealing with areas such as farmers, OBCs, youth, foreign affairs and women becoming more engaged, and being asked to deliver regular updates on developments relating to their activities.

Busy Minister

As elections in West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry draw closer, a rush of Central projects is being inaugurated and foundation stones are being laid. Several of the infrastructure and connectivity projects involve Railways and there is also the recent emphasis on AI and data centres. All this places Ashwini Vaishnaw in the thick of things given his charge of Railways and IT, making his calendar full of travel dates. The minister keeps himself accessible too, and this means his parliamentary office has a steady stream of MPs while chief ministers and state ministers also seek him out over the phone.

American Flair

New US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor seems to have taken to his assignment with gusto, watching the American team play in the T20 World Cup and attending the inauguration of Emmanuel Macron’s semiconductor facility at Sanand alongside Prime Minister Modi. His backroom work was also evident when US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick held discussions with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal. The picture of the meeting, which Gor also attended, reflected cordiality with Goyal, describing the exchange of notes as very fruitful. Now, this is a sea-change from Lutnick’s abrasive comments on India about Modi’s “failing” to place a phone call to US President Donald Trump.