Sources say that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) is pondering the grant of yet another extension to Cabinet Secretary BK Chaturvedi. His current two-year extension is due to end in June. The government, especially the
PMO, works in its own inimitable style and it will be interesting to see whether it grants him another extension for a year or chooses to appoint him governor of a state. It is said that Chaturvedi would like to be governor of Delhi. Incidentally, the post of lieutenant-governor of Delhi is also about to fall vacant as the present incumbent, BL Joshi, wants to go out of Delhi.The third option before the gov- ernment is to give Chaturvedi an important ambassadorial appointment.
Now, the IAS fraternity is comfortable with the last two options but not the first.The first time he got an extension, the career of nine senior bureaucrats was affected. Reva Nayyar, president of the IAS Association, resigned in disgust.This time round, a similar number of officers stand to be affected.
Bureaucrats emphasize that they are not against Chaturvedi, but against the granting of extensions that stall other people’s careers.They state that, if an indi- vidual is indispensable, he can be accommodated in the PMO or elsewhere. IAS association members feel the PMO should appoint a meritorious and senior of- ficer instead of giving Chaturvedi another extension.
Rajnath’s secret verbal weapon language as ammo
The speech writer is not yet a conspicuous backroom figure in Indian political par- lours, as is the case in the US of A. Yet, many an Indian politician is now using the services of the brainy aide in addition to those of the brawny brigade. Probably the first time that speech writers figured in the Indian political scene was when Rajiv Gandhi made his entry with his band of baba log. Mani Shankar Aiyar was the brain behind such ear-catching phras- es as “power-brokers”—used by Rajiv at the Congress centenary function in Mumbai in 1985. And, some time ago, Jairam Ramesh admitted on a TV show that he wrote speech- es for Sonia Gandhi.
Well, the Bharatiya Janata Paty (BJP) leaders don’t want to be left behind. BJP presi- dent and UP strongman Rajnath Singh has found his Man Friday in Sudhanshu Dwivedi, an engineering graduate from Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agricultural Sciences who now teaches at a Lucknow engineering college. Dwivedi is also a Rashtriya Sway- amsevak Sangh (RSS) cadet.
When Rajnath joined the Atal Behari Vajpayee government as agriculture minister towards the end of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) second term, he brought Dwivedi to the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) and then inducted him into the agriculture ministry as his adviser—on deputa- tion, of course.
After the electoral defeat of 2004, Dwivedi returned to NAFED in Delhi but continued to contribute words and ideas for Rajnath’s use. Now, the arena of activity has shifted to the inner circles of the party. It is believed that when Rajnath threw his hat into the leadership—read prime ministerial—ring, declaring, “Yeh barat hai satta ki sundari ko desh ki rajdhani mein ley jaane ki. Aur iss barat ka main hi dulha hoon,” it was Dwivedi who provided the verbal fusillade.
Political lords need their knights and Dwivedi is turning out to be one such knight for Rajnath, who is aspiring to be the lord of the saffron party.
Thakur Gang of Four caste adhesive
The past month saw some hectic activity in Uttar Pradesh, with the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) at the Centre unsuccessfully trying to get the Mulay- am Singh Yadav regime dismissed and President’s Rule imposed. Relations between the UPA’s chief constituent, the Congress, and the Samajwadi Party have never been cordial and the Con- gress clamoured for President’s Rule following the discovery of human skel- etons in Nithari in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. But the party’s lack of understanding of Thakur politics stood exposed.
Its chief coalition ally, the CPI(M), opposed any such dismissal but BJP president Rajnath Singh declared his party would support Central rule if the Congress were really serious. The Con- gress’ lack of strength in the Assembly was a factor and BJP support was cru- cial. But wily Mulayam got his party secretary, Amar Singh, to convince BJP leader Bhairon Singh Shekhawat in a Thakur-to-Thakur talk that it was quite unnecessary for the saffron party to up the ante at a time when its prospects had started looking up in UP and that the Congress would never return the favour. Shekhawat then sounded party colleague Jaswant Singh and the Thakur foursome of Shekhawat, Amar, Jaswant and Rajnath reached a compromise.
