5 min readMar 8, 2026 07:20 AM IST First published on: Mar 8, 2026 at 07:20 AM ISTAt the first Cabinet meeting in his new office at ‘Seva Teerth’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed unhappiness at recent controversies in the Union Education Ministry. He felt there should be stocktaking by all ministries of reforms introduced since the start of his third term. Subsequently, the Cabinet Secretary wrote to private secretaries of ministers asking for a review of reforms introduced since 2024. Many read in Modi’s remarks an indication of a likely Cabinet reshuffle. It was noticeable that, later, ministers with dual portfolios were spending far more time in offices of their additional portfolios and interacting with officials.But, it is not Modi’s style to rush into action and give the impression of bowing to pressure. If ministerial changes are made, it will not be immediately. After the Epstein papers, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri, whose Rajya Sabha term expires by year end, has been facing the heat. Also, the RSS is upset with the UGC’s equity norms, released last month, to check discrimination on campus, which the Supreme Court has since stayed. The BJP apprehends that upper castes will feel alienated if the measures are adopted. Some attribute the UGC’s drafting misjudgment to the fact that Dharmendra Pradhan’s Education Ministry does not have an RSS representative to “vet” sensitive decisions. Pradhan, however, remains a favourite of Modi, Shah and a section of the RSS and is unlikely to be dropped .AdvertisementLutyens’s signature staysIt is a moot point whether the bust of Sir Edwin Lutyens was removed from the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the magnificent building he designed, because of his alleged racist views on Indians and his “belittling” of Indian architecture and culture, or the fact that the term ‘Lutyens Delhi’ has come to personify the Capital’s elite, with a Nehruvian mindset, who dominated politics, culture and the liberal narrative in Delhi in the pre-Modi days. Those considered part of ‘Lutyens Delhi’ are understandably among those incensed over the bust’s removal. Interestingly, few are aware that Lutyens left his distinctive signature on Rashtrapati Bhavan in the form of a unique roshandan (skylight) designed in the shape of his spectacles. The window is discreetly located in the corridor leading to the Press Secretary’s office.Incidentally the real colonial relic – visible during Giani Zail Singh’s presidential tenure – is the throne of King George VI, cleverly camouflaged with an Ashoka Chakra brass canopy and converted into the President’s chair. One wonders if it still remains.Speaking of whichPolitical parties should be queuing up to recruit Neha Singh, Galgotia University’s head of communications. Singh may have been left holding the bag after a Chinese-made robotic dog was presented as “developed” by the university, at the recent global AI Impact Summit in Delhi, but what left viewers awed was that she remained unabashed and exuded confidence despite the major goof-up. Singh explained it away with the quip “Your 6 can be my 9”, with many seeing in an Amitabh Bachchan line from an old film, and asserted that in her “enthusiasm and speaking in a jiffy’’, she might not have “come across as very eloquent”.AdvertisementSingh is clearly a believer in the maxim originally expounded by British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, “Never explain, never complain”. With the BJP often ill-served by some shrill spokespersons on TV, whose defence is often whataboutery or verbal slanging, the absence of the late Arun Jaitley,the unofficial media adviser to Narendra Modi, even before Modi became the PM, is sorely felt. Jaitley seldom made the mistake of defending the indefensible. As a brilliant lawyer, he knew how to frame his arguments depending on his audience and never strayed far from the truth, rather deflecting.Blue diaryWhen former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel’s son Chaitanya was first jailed in September last year for alleged involvement in the state’s liquor scandal, his family viewed it as a badge of honour. Three generations of Baghels have been imprisoned in Raipur Central Jail, and later freed by courts. But when Chaitanya’s case was taken over by the ED and he failed to get bail, he was no longer gung ho. Last month, he finally secured bail, though there is a buzz that his statement to the authorities could have implicated a Congress high-up in Delhi. In political circles, the term ‘Blue Diary’ is being talked about by some in the same manner as the ‘Jain Diary’ case of two decades ago, which had creatednoise for allegedly recording payments to political figures.