Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung took the Modi government by surprise with his resignation. No one in the government or the BJP, not even in the PMO, had a clue that Jung was planning to quit. Word reached the PMO only when Jung’s resignation landed at Rashtrapati Bhavan which wondered what to do with it.

Union home secretary Rajiv Meherishi too was taken aback. Meherishi is supposed to work in close coordination with the Lt Governor on matters related to Delhi. He found out about Jung’s resignation from television. He was particularly puzzled because he had an official meeting lined up with the Lt Governor on the day of the resignation. The meeting had to be cancelled.

According to those familiar with events leading up to the development, Jung’s abrupt decision to exit was prompted by pressure from the BJP to sharpen the attack on the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi. It seems he was summoned three times in the past few weeks to submit a report to the union home ministry about a “constitutional breakdown” in the Capital.

The pressure intensified after the Shunglu Committee appointed by Jung to examine the functioning of the Kejriwal government submitted its findings at the end of November. The committee was mandated to examine the 400 odd decisions taken by the Delhi government without the LG’s approval. It is believed to have been strongly critical of the manner in which many of these decisions were taken in violation of accepted legal norms that govern Delhi. The capital is a state in name but remains a union territory in many ways.

It seems the BJP was keen to use the Shunglu report to dismiss the Kejriwal government and impose President’s Rule. While Jung has been toeing the centre’s line on issues related to Delhi, he seems to have baulked at this demand. What must have played on his mind are the two judgments of the Supreme Court related to Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh. The apex court had pulled up the Centre for imposing President’s rule in the two states. And in the case of Arunachal Pradesh, it passed severe strictures against the Governor.

Before the fourth call came, Jung put in his papers. Curiously, his resignation has not yet been accepted. The Modi government is sitting on it. Is it having second thoughts?

CM pleased?

The buzz in Tamil Nadu is that chief minister O Panneerselvam, or OPS as he is called, is secretly quite pleased that chief secretary P Rama Mohana Rao has gone. Rao was a close confidante not just of late chief minister Jayalalitha but also of Sasikala who is aspiring to inherit Jaya’s mantle and be promoted from Chinnamma (junior mother) to Amma. According to political observers in Chennai, Sasikala is even eyeing the CM’s post.

Under these circumstances, Rao would have been a thorn in OPS’ side. His departure under a cloud following income tax raids frees OPS from the overwhelming shadow of Jaya and Sasikala. They say the Centre played a major role in this as it would prefer to deal with a low profile, amenable CM like OPS rather than Sasikala who the BJP sees as a tough Jaya clone.

The new chief secretary Girija Vaidyanathan is said to be the Centre’s choice. This is unusual for Tamil Nadu where chief ministers have never allowed union governments to dictate to them especially in the choice of key government personnel.

The big question is what Rao’s interrogation will reveal. Given his close links to Jaya and Sasikala, BJP circles hope that they can dig up dirt on the duo. This will give the Centre a lever to control the political and administrative dynamics in a post-Jaya Tamil Nadu.

The BJP hopes that some day in the future, they can pull off an Arunachal Pradesh like coup and get the AIADMK to either merge into the BJP or join the NDA and become a BJP protégé. This will give the saffron party its much desired entry into Tamil Nadu.

But AIADMK circles say Sasikala is not a pushover. Not only did she learn from her friend and mentor how to keep Delhi on tenterhooks, often she was the one who prodded Jaya to take a belligerent stand with the Centre. The evolving triangular relationship between Sasikala, OPS and Modi will be interesting to watch.

Subhash’s moves

Media baron and Rajya Sabha MP Subhash Chandra has been taking an extraordinary interest in UP politics. He has been organising and attending Vaishya samaj sammelans in the poll bound state.

The most recent one was in Mirzapur where apart from addressing school children, he also met traders and local businessmen, most of whom have been badly hit by demonetisation.

BJP circles are quite puzzled by Chandra’s interest in UP. He hails from Haryana, not UP. He is already an MP. So he couldn’t be having political ambitions to contest from the state.

But he does have business interests. He has already bagged a whopping Rs 14,000 crore contract to construct a national highway from Panipat to Chandigarh. He is believed to be eyeing projects in UP where both the state and union governments have big plans to build highways.

Significantly, Chandra stepped up his forays into UP through Vaishya samaj sammelans post demonetisation. It seems he hopes to use his caste links to connect with and placate a community that is disaffected and openly critical of Modi’s demonetisation move.