Rashtrapati Bhavan Narendra Modi pleasantly surprised President Pranab Mukherjee by asking to see the Rashtrapati Bhavan last week. The president had hosted an exclusive lunch for the prime minister next to his office and then Modi was taken around by president's secretary Omita Paul. She showed the Durban Hall and Ashoka Hall, where prime ministers and ministers have been sworn in, though Modi and his cabinet took oath in the open air forecourt of the world's largest official palace.
The prime minister, who was an outsider to official Delhi till he was elected by a massive mandate in May, has an intense curiosity to see and understand how the institutions of the central government work. When he was elected by BJP parliamentarians in the central hall of Parliament, Modi said he had never been in this historic hall where the first prime minister and all the presidents have taken oath of office. It is also the hall where the Constituent Assembly discussed and adopted the Constitution. The prime minister took a tour of the sprawling house to familiarise himself with the functioning of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
A visit to Supreme Court is also on the cards though no formal announcement has come up. Modi had expressed a desire to meet Chief Justice R.M.Lodha. But there was no progress as the government and the judiciary were in a confrontation over the proposal to make advocate Gopal Subramaniam a judge of the apex court.
The prime minister has also shown keen interest on how the command centres of national security function. He paid a quiet visit to the strategic forces command headquarters in Delhi which is in charge of deployment and delivery of nuclear weapons. He spent considerable time in the war rooms of the Army, Navy and Air Force. Modi's keen interest in logistics and maps may now lead to creation of a strategy room in prime minister's residential complex on Race Course road with the latest technological tools. He has also said he will visit the bhavans housing the government ministries in the coming weeks.
Tailpiece: However Modi has not found much time for socialising and the hospitality team has not so far organised any major lunches or dinners. He has also declined to attend felicitation dinners.
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