Unnoticed by most of us, the Narendra Modi regime has suddenly become hyper-active. After years of speculation over different known names, it abruptly picked a nondescript loyalist to head the BJP. Then it announced the contentious labour code that it had withheld for five years. The truncated winter session also saw Amit Shah, who usually anchors the proceedings, dig up over half-a-dozen controversial bills kept pending for years.All the bills barring one have now been bulldozed through Parliament and passed with the barest minimum discussion. The Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025, was passed by the Rajya Sabha at 12.32 am, such was the haste to push it through.The question is, what motivated the government to force these decisions one after another? Was it simply to prove to the world that Modi can do anything he wants without any challenge? We have to wait for a convincing answer.As soon as the objectives were achieved, the two Houses were abruptly adjourned, possibly to prevent members from raising the public health concerns arising out of the pollution in the National Capital Region.Shah’s enthusiasm for pushing controversial bills in Parliament without due debate is fairly known – such had happened in the very first session after the 2019 election victory. What is new this time is that he was also forced to abandon a few of his decisions because of internal pressures from entrenched lobbies.Take the case of Chandigarh’s status. Parliamentary bulletins in November announced the Union government’s plans to introduce the Constitution (131st amendment) bill in the winter session to bring the union territory under Article 240. This would transfer the Punjab governor’s powers to make regulations to Shah’s home ministry. Within hours, the arbitrary move became the target of attack from all quarters and the Union suffered the humiliation of having to withdraw its move and clarify that any decision would be taken only “after consultation with all stakeholders”.A far bigger loss of face happened in the case of the Sanchar Saathi, after a departmental order to manufacturers to install the government app on all smartphones was exposed. A furore erupted, with the Opposition contending that the app would allow the government to snoop on every phone user. When the regime found it was on a shaky wicket, it hurriedly retreated. Incidentally, it was the foreign news agency Reuters – not any Indian media outlet – that had broken the news.Meanwhile, lobbyists, policy pushers and business interests might have never had it so good. The current situation has been described as bulldozing ‘conveyor belt reform’. Look at the tsunami of bills rushed in the just-concluded session. Among these are the bill to allow 100% FDI in insurance. Successive governments have resisted the pressure to open up insurance for fear that such a bill will lead to loss of control over the entire sector, with foreign companies dictating terms, taking away profits and causing a loss of taxes to the exchequer. All of this has now been overlooked.Amendments to the nuclear Act, another Modi gambit, are alleged to have been forced on India as part of negotiations with the US. Reuters had reported on this as early as last April and said the aim was to attract the US firms like GE and Westinghouse. Indian commentators had also warned against granting ‘dangerous concessions’ to foreign firms. Critics argue that opening up the sector will lead to higher cost of nuclear energy and, if there is an accident, expose the victims to utter helplessness. After the nuclear bill was rushed through, it emerged that US President Donald Trump wanted India’s nuclear liability rules to ‘align with international norms’.The bill to replace the University Grants Commission and two other institutions with a new body, the Higher Education Commission, is far more sinister than earlier presumed. It proposes to concentrate power in a single central body, and academics worry that it will destroy the autonomy of higher education institutions. The move will fuel commercialisation through debt-based funding. The most alarming feature of the bill, now referred to a joint parliamentary committee, is that the funding of universities will come under the direct control of a mechanism devised by the Union ministry of education.The first indication of the flurry of legislation came days before the Parliament session when the regime notified the labour code. The issue had remained pending for five years for fear of a massive labour backlash. The notification evoked widespread protests by labour unions – it was left to foreign agencies such as Reuters to report on the extent of the resentment. Bloomberg described the 12-hour workday mentioned in the new code as a ‘wrong kind of capitalism’ of the 21st century. BBC reported that the trade unions in several cities protested against the new labour code. A ‘web only’ piece in The New Indian Express said that the new code will only enslave the workers and should be repealed. It lamented ‘deceptive propaganda’ by the prime minister and other ministers and said the workers would not benefit.The most audacious assault has happened in the case of the MGNREGA, which had provided subsistence employment to the hungry millions. The new bill – Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025 (VB–G Ram G) – replacing it drops Mahatma Gandhi’s name for reasons best known to the duo. It puts 40% financial burden on state governments even while retaining strict operational control by the Union, and goes against the principle of right to work and federalism. Even BJP ally TDP has flagged the 40% burden on states. Tamil Nadu officials have calculated the additional burden at Rs 4,300 crore a year. Activists, farmers and workers’ groups have called for immediate withdrawal of the bill, with social activist Aruna Roy describing it as the ‘one of the worst calamities that have hit the poor’ and an assault on democracy. International experts,including Joseph Stiglitz, have written to Modi to rescind the decision.Guile, duplicity and cunning have become the hallmarks of the highly Sanskritised legislations of the Modi era. Earlier, the title of a bill gave an idea about its contents, such as ‘abolition of untouchability act’. This is no more so. Consider the ‘Sabka Bima Sabki Raksha bill’, whose name conceals its true message and provides a distorted image of the bill. Or the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill. Contrary to the claim in the title, it actually demolishes the concept of the guarantee scheme. Such distorted titles have become the hallmark of the Modi-era bills, concealing the real contents while promoting the government’s campaign slogans. Former minister P. Chidambaram and M. K.Stalin have also decried the use of Hindi in the titles – Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill… – that non-Hindi speakers will find difficult to pronounce.In an age of fractured mandates, personality cults and transactional alliances, P. Raman brings clarity to India’s shifting political equations. With Realpolitik, the veteran journalist peers beneath the slogans and spin to reveal the power plays, spectacle, crises and insecurities driving India’s politics.P. Raman is a veteran journalist and political commentator.