Much has been said about the return of PM Narendra Modi. Henceforth, it is all about his way forward in circumstances he had never faced in his entire political career. Modi will be running a coalition government for the first time. Political assessors and rivals have recalibrated their instruments to observe the New Modi. They will be watching the PM’s management closely, finding faults and provoking the allies to go on the brink. The country had forgotten about the coalition governments at the Centre since Modi’s advent in 2014. Ten years later, the days of the previous machinations are back with all eyes on the stability of the government. The PM’s detractors may be wishing to see a moment that turns Modi 3.0 into Modi.0h!

Testing time

PM Modi’s first test was the formation of the council of ministers, with participation from allies, including even those who didn’t fight the elections. By the time this piece was sent out, the PMO was in the process of ensuring a berth or two for the NDA partners, except for the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar) that rejected an offer of a junior minister’s position. The Ajit Pawar-led party demanded a Cabinet berth for Praful Patel. It didn’t want Patel demoted because he was a Cabinet-rank minister in the past. Even the offer for a MoS with independent charge didn’t work. DCM Devendra Fadnavis, who discussed the offer with NCP, said that the norms could not be changed for one partner when there were many others in the NDA. Ajit Pawar’s team will wait till the first Cabinet expansion, he said. Some posturing by the BJP’s latest ally in Maharashtra despite getting its weakness exposed in the elections.