Tricolour mission creep

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi might not have spelt out his prime ministerial ambitions in clear terms but that has not stopped his supporters and officials from pitching him for the role. The cover of the glossy illustrated pamphlet containing the text of Modi’s speech to the National Development Council (NDC) meeting last week had a saffron patch running across the bottom of the page with a piping of the tricolour along the top of it. One of the officials on Modi’s team commented that the tricolour would slowly expand and cover the entire saffron patch below. The reference might have been very cursory but the real meaning was not.