Advancing the cause

The country may have been stunned by the electoral performance of the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party, but Modi magic appears to have hit the coal ministry in advance. The ministry, burdened by the United Progressive Alliance's legacy of controversial mine allocations, was among the first to welcome the new dispensation. The election results were declared on May 16; by Monday, May 19, a calendar with Modi's picture was already up on the walls of the office of coal secretary S K Srivastava. Interestingly, the month on display was not May but February.