New Delhi:
In every rally during his Lok Sabha Election campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly said that “phir ek baar, Modi Sarkar.” This is not just a slogan for the BJP. A latest report says that confident of his second stint, Modi has directed top bureaucrats at the Prime Minister’s Office and Niti Aayog to prepare 100-day agenda for his next government. According to an HT report, special emphasis will be given to key sectors such as oil and gas, infrastructure and education in the new plan. The report also said that the focus will be on inter-linking of rivers and drinking water facilities.
Curiously, an earlier Reuters report had said that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) may see several changes at the top bureaucratic level if Modi returns to power in May. According to the report, at least eight senior bureaucrats in the PMO have either sought a transfer to other departments or plan to take premature retirement.
Interestingly, two of them said they are also planning to be transferred to state capitals or to other jobs. They also claimed that officials in other ministries were also trying to move. Reuters reported that there are about 25 senior civil servants working in the PMO, which under Modi has become the single most powerful department in government.
Ninety-one Lok Sabha constituencies spread across 18 states and two UTs, including all in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, will go to polls on Thursday in the first-phase, with Nitin Gadkari, Kiren Rijiju and VK Singh among several Union ministers in the fray.
Voting for 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases: April 11, April 18, April 23, April 29, May 6, May 12 and May 19. Counting will be done on May 23. The first phase of polls will decide the fate of 217 candidates.
There are 26 hopefuls in fray for Lok Sabha seats and 191 for assembly seats. Polls for all the five seats in Uttarakhand, which were won by the BJP in 2014, will be held the first phase.
