Three months back, when the BJP was voted to power and their PM candidate was preparing to be sworn in as the prime minister of India, there was lots of speculation about who would get the Number 2 slot in Modi sarkar.
At the time, there was a tie between Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley. And Jaitley, many felt would fit the bill totally.
However, another name emerged and that was of BJP national president Rajnath Singh.
He was looked upon as a secular face within the party and is said to be instrumental in projecting Modi as the Saffron party’s prime ministerial candidate.
Not surprisingly, Modi returned the favour by making him Home Minister which is the most important portfolio in the cabinet after the PM.
Now, after BJP completed 100 days of rule with public support and goodwill, the topic has once again come to the fore.
Just before leaving for Japan, it is said that Modi had left a note saying that Rajnath Singh would chair any cabinet meeting in his absence.
Interestingly, however, the cabinet meeting that was scheduled for Wednesday did not happen as per convention as Modi was back from Japan by 3 pm.
Incidentally, Modi chaired the meeting on Thursday. Also, the PMO denies that Modi left any note to this effect.
So, despite wide speculation and various media reports about the ‘Number 2’ slot, Modi seems to have shown once and for all that he leads the party for now and that he is in no mood to change the status quo, even in his absence.
