Wise governments try to preserve their political capital to invest in policies and programmes that yield a high return. By trying to skirt contentious issues, though not always successfully and often failing for no fault of its own, Modi Sarkar has tried not to squander its huge political capital. Those who know Narendra Modi also know that the prime minister is not prone to converting political capital into bad debts.

It is precisely for this reason that it remains inexplicable as to why Modi Sarkar continues to get sucked into the quicksand of utterly frivolous and distracting issues that have little or nothing to do with revving up the economy and putting India on an irreversible trajectory of growth and development. I am referring to the raging row over the appointment of the chairman of the taxpayer-funded Film and Television Institute of India, popularly known as FTII, in Pune.