Yogi Adityanath has for the second time defied his boss and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the lockdown and sent a public message that he is his own man. Yesterday, the UP government which he leads sent a fleet of buses to Kota in Rajasthan to bring back more then 7,000 students stranded there.
This is a revolution waiting to happen and while a lockdown is unfortunate, it may have just provided us with a chance to try new things that may well be the future of transferring perishable goods from the village to the city - a new model that puts the interest of the farmer and the consumer first.
Ever since the COVID-19 crisis acquired a serious dimension, many of the discussions and efforts have been on a unified, coordinated strategy against the pandemic and much of the political scoring has been left for another day.
Today, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, much maligned by the Panna Pramukhs and the BJP IT cell, made Modi look bad in comparison with an unscripted press conference.
The Modi Government seems unable or unwilling to unleash the full array of financial and administrative resources within its remit that is necessary to win this fight. Or maybe it just doesn't know how?
Isn't it Moses time for Chief Ministers of the eastern states? How long will they silently watch their people in far off states protesting the lack of food, water, money, shelter, and crying to go home, before they say, "let my people go"?
We don't think of dying too often. But when we do, we hope that we pass away peacefully, surrounded by our family, friends and loved ones. However, the global pandemic of the COVID- 19 infection has challenged the very core of this thought.
Today, these workers are in the news for all the wrong reasons. Their savings are meagre, they have lost their livelihood, they and their families have nothing to fall back upon and all they want to do is to return to their villages where perhaps they hope to survive somehow. This is their only fault.
In his fourth speech to the nation yesterday, extending the national lockdown, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appreciated the Indian people for their peaceful and private celebration of harvest festivals this week. Unfortunately, actual harvests are not amenable to such indoor observance.
The migrants aren't the only ones facing the spectre of death. What happens if more daily wage workers crowding our dazzling city of gold decide to face a lathi-charge, defy the lockdown and attempt to flee? Phir kya hoga, Kaliya?
This is a great political advantage that Modi has over his opponents. While there are state leaders who have a similar linguistic-cultural connect with their people, Modi is the only one who has acquired a pan-national stature. When Congress leaders attack him by parading their knowledge of English literature, they only strengthen Mr. Modi.
The Prime Minister emphasised that the decision to extend the lockdown came with the assent of - indeed, one might say at the behest of - state chief ministers. This follows ample publicity of his weekend meeting with Chief Ministers, as well as leaks and statements that they had asked for the extension.
The sudden stop in economic activity means that there are critical demand and income shortfalls. These will multiply in the months to come, further contracting the economy.
Critics will see this as an inept government which does not have a plan. Some will see it as cynical politics at a time of India's biggest-ever economic crisis. It will not affect the rank and file of India's ever-expanding body of citizen soldiers, who will rally behind the leader as he gives them a sense of purpose in rethinking the nation-state.
