HVK Archives: The Changing Formula
The Changing Formula - The India Today
Harinder Baweja
()
April 20, 1998
Title: The Changing Formula
Author: Harinder Baweja
Publication: The India Today
Date: April 20, 1998
It is the nerve centre of power. The country's engine room where
confidential files are sifted and policies formulated. Where
aides roll up their sleeves and burn the midnight oil in the
ornate, high-ceilinged, teak-panelled rooms of South Block. Where
officials and the contents of the briefs they write reflect the
priorities and the personality of the prime minister.
The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is a mirror to the incumbent's
character and style of functioning. It reflected Indira Gandhi as
a lone ranger, remote and selectively accessible through trusted
lieutenant R.K. Dhawan. It mirrored Rajiv Gandhi's corporate
orientation through Arun Nehru and Arun Singh, who then became
powerful players in the coterie that came to surround him.
Likewise, I.K. Gujral gave his office a bureaucratic, antiseptic
thrust-surrounding himself with IAS confidants from the Punjab
cadre and Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officers, leaving politics
to the all-powerful Steering Committee.
Now, once again, the old order changeth. Atal Bihari Vajpayee's
secretariat is blending a bit of the old with the new. At the
apex is Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra. A son of former
Madhya Pradesh chief minister D.P. Mishra, once described as
Indira Gandhi's Chanakya, he was in the IFS and served as India's
permanent representative to the UN. An old-world gentleman who
frequented the India International Centre, Mishra is the first in
a crucial respect. He is the first principal secretary who is
also a member of the ruling party. Mishra joined the BJP in 1991
and was the convener of the party's foreign affairs cell before
being chosen Vajpayee's point man with the bureaucracy and an
adviser on foreign affairs, a portfolio that Vajpayee-like
Jawaharlal Nehru, P.V. Narasimha Rao and Gujral-has retained.
But quite unlike Gujral, who preferred to work his own equations
with remote-controller Sitaram Kesri, Vajpayee has chosen Pramod
Mahajan-who could not be accommodated in the Cabinet due to his
defeat in the elections-as his political adviser with cabinet
rank. Mahajan, a high-profile party general secretary who took on
the role of a trouble-shooter immediately after the election, is
Vajpayee's political conduit to an amorphous 18-party coalition
Government. He is unofficial spokesman, negotiator and fire-
fighter rolled into one. For example, when Trinamool Congress
leader Mamata Banerjee flared up over Minister of State for
Agriculture Som Pal's comment on West Bengal's indifference to
the tornado victims, Mahajan was entrusted with a quick damage-
control exercise. He clearly communicated Vajpayee's displeasure
to the minister.
Unlike Bhuvanesh Chaturvedi, who was minister of state in the PMO
when Narasimha Rao was in office, Mahajan is decisive and
assertive. A senior PMO official compares his style with Arun
Nehru's-firm and authoritative, " passing on subtle messages
laced with the hint that he has the car of the prime minister".
Bogged down and under pressure from several quarters-the Akalis
demanded a higher wheat procurement price, senior minister V
Ramamurthy expressed the view that the DMK Government in Tamil
Nadu should be dismissed and Jayalalitha demanded a larger share
of portfolios for her state allies-Vajpayee needs Mahajan as his
backroom boy. As one of his aides puts it, "The prime minister is
leaning on a small group of advisers because he finds the Cabinet
unwieldy, for most of them don't think like he does."
But for his office Vajpayee has chosen people who think like him
and comprehend his penchant for rigour. Mishra, for instance,
was quick in advising him on the issues that could come up in his
conversation with US President Bill Clinton, who called to
congratulate Vajpayee. The PMO was told almost 24 hours in
advance about it and even though it was a courtesy call, Vajpayee
was keen on doing his homework. He went through Clinton's letter
congratulating him on his appointment, analysed it with senior
officials of the Ministry of External Affairs and even read
through the riles of previous interactions. "It is not uncommon,
" says an aide, "to hear him say that the brief is not good
enough."
Vajpayee's brief to the bureaucrats in the PMO is another
indicator of his style and priorities. For instance. T.K.A. Nair,
the secretary in PMO, who was brought in by Gujral and then
appointed chief of the Public Enterprises Service Board shortly
before the fall of the Government, has been asked to continue
till a replacement is found. In an effort to show that he is not
making sweeping changes and is, in fact, interested in
continuity, Vajpayee has so far brought in only one joint
secretary of his choice-Ashok Saikia, an Assamcadre IAS officer.
Saikia is known to Vajpayee since he was a student with Nandita,
one of Vajpayee's adopted daughters. In another attempt at
projecting continuity, Vajpayee has also cold his office to keep
the Anti-corruption Cell-set up with much fanfare by Gujral
operational.
The joint secretary looking after education and agriculture,
Saikia first came into the PMO as Vajpayee's personal secretary
(PS), a post now held by Shakti Sinha, one of the few officers
willing to be associated with Vajpayee during his earlier 13-day
tenure. Sinha stayed on as his PS for the intervening period when
he was Leader of the Opposition. The operations of the PMO have
been entrusted to Saikia and Sinha. They have been clearly
instructed to discourage lobbyists and other hangers-on. "No
controversy" is the guiding motto of the PMO. Says an official:
"It is Vajpayee's way of offsetting the political pressure from
allies, which is bound to increase."
The prime minister, in fact, has clearly identified his areas of
priority education, agriculture, health, housing, drinking water
and Centre-state relations. "He wants to make a mark in these
areas before he gets caught in political controversies," says an
aide. Yet, though Vajpayee is giving a certain character to his
office. some of the files that have been kept pending also
reflect his style-a trait that may not stand him in good stead
for too long. Taking a cue from the Akalis, who got Gujral to
waive a portion of Punjab's special term loan in the name of
battling terrorism, Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta
has requested that Rs 1,500 crore spent by the state on security-
related expenditure be waived. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister
Farooq Abdullah, whose National Conference MPs abstained during
the vote of confidence, is preparing a similar case.
Such hiccups will be sought to be explained by Sudheendra
Kulkarni, a former journalist and party member who is informally
working as the press secretary, a post likely to be formalised
soon. Two other joint secretary-level posts will see the advent
of bureaucrats who have the prime minister's trust.
For a man who waited nearly four decades to become prime
minister, Vajpayee has made a characteristically cautious
beginning, handpicking his team. In an engine room with multiple
points for short circuits, this PMO will have to twin the
functions of early warning and a circuit breaker.
Back
Top
|
