Modi's methodology

Two days into his new job Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been promising his people good governance and development while assuring outsiders to work for the promotion of peace, has already stirred up controversies at home and in Jammu and Kashmir. The very first cabinet meeting decided to go round the rules to appoint former chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Nripendra Misra, as Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister. Since the existing law did not permit post-retirement government job for anyone "ceasing to hold office", the government got the President to issue an ordinance amending the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act to make way for a former chairman (actually, Misra) or a member of the Authority to take up any government job after a two-year cooling-off period; and to accept "any appointment in any company in the business of telecommunication service" either at the Centre or in a state. Clearly, the Modi government has no qualms about bending the laws to suit its purposes.
The HRD Minister Smriti Irani is also under criticism for having made contradictory statements about her educational qualifications in the affidavits she filed along with nomination papers for Lok Sabha elections in 2004 and 2014. In other words, she has been lying under oath, which would be grounds for dismissal in any other democracy. But there is no likelihood of that happening in Delhi. As a matter of fact, the narrative is focused more on Irani's modest education rather than perjury, which is what lying under oath constitutes. To the new Prime Minister 'good governance' is not about establishing respect for rules and regulation, but using position of power to get whatever is required by changing the rules and the laws that come in the way of a desired objective.
The same approach has been tried on Jammu and Kashmir. Notably, the BJP election manifesto had included abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian constitution to change the status of Jammu and Kashmir - something undoable given the mood in the disputed state. None of the earlier governments ever tried to touch the said article despite the 'integral part' refrain because of the deeply emotive and inflammatory nature of the issue even among the occupied state's pro-India parties. On the very first day in office, the new Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, Jitendra Singh, announced that the government had started the process for the repeal of Article 370. The statement drew a volley of angry retorts from Congress ally and National Conference chief minister Omar Abdullah as well as Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti, with both asking Delhi to come clean on the issue. Abdullah also argued that any such attempt would be akin to opening up the issues that are "to do with the ratification of accession". Persistence in pursuing the issue would show if the Modi government is serious about it, or has just been trying to score political points to please its constituency. In any event, the move inspires little confidence about a meaningful resumption of Pak-India peace dialogue to resolve all outstanding issues of conflict, including the core question of Kashmir.