Stand and delivery

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has an admirer of sorts in Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh who recently said the former poses a "managerial and ideological challenge" for the Congress. This remark irked some senior Congressmen who were vocal in their criticism and underlined the official party position that it does not see Modi as a threat. This, however, has not deterred Ramesh who sought to underline the apolitical nature of his focus on performance (a very Modi plank) in Bangalore last week. He warned the Karnataka government, basking in the glory of the party's thumping victory in the Assembly elections, that there would be no Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) funds if it does not deliver. "If this government does not change the way the MGNREGA and Indira Awas Yojana have been implemented, I will not hesitate to do the same thing I had done to the previous [Bharatiya Janata Party] government. There is no politics in it."