Notwithstanding a discernible disquiet, moves are afoot to create a new post of coordinator in the Union Home Ministry. It is envisaged that a serving brigadier will shoulder this assignment to coordinate the activities of the security forces in tackling the increasing menace of Naxalism which has spread to no fewer than 17 states.
North Block mandarins are wary of the prospect of a uniformed person being foisted on them. So it appears the proposal of a brigadier working in the Home Ministry might have to await the advent of the new government at the Centre.
No one is willing to stick their neck out in disclosing whose brainchild this is. It could well be Union Home Minister P Chidambaram’s. But all the civil servants are on guard and it is evident that till the general election gets over no effort will be spared in ensuring the proposal comes to nought. So the diktat of nose-in-the-air civil servants will continue untrammeled!
Gopu tells all about EC days
Former Chief Election Commissioner Needamangalam Gopalaswami has penned a book titled My Days in Nirvachan Sadan. The first two chapters are said to be explosive, more so than even the letter he wrote to President Pratibha Patil seeking dismissal of current CEC Navin Chawla because of his partisanship towards the Congress.
Though the Election Commission is an autonomous body created by the Constitution, the CEC is only empowered to make recommendations and it is for the government to accept or reject them. In this case, the Congress-led UPA government predictably rejected Gopalaswami’s suggestion. Many civil servants feel he should have resigned after this.
Gopalaswami’s lone regret when he bid adieu to Nirvachan Sadan on April 20 was said to be his inability to contain moneypower in elections, especially a general election. His one satisfaction, if it can be called that, was that elections generate employment.
He was also reportedly pained at the leaking to political parties of crucial decisions taken by the three EC members among themselves. This enabled political bigwigs to intervene even before the formal release of the order by the EC.
“Gopu” or “Gapal”, as he is known in the Civil Service, where he served as a 1966-batch Gujarat-cadre IAS officer, has now returned to home base in Chennai.
PC versus Narayanan
There seems no love lost between ambitious Home Minister P Chidambaram and National Security Adviser MK Narayanan. Despite enjoying a free hand in matters relating to his Ministry, Chidambaram is leaving no stone unturned to manage Narayanan’s exit from his present post and veritable exile as Governor of a state.
Little does the Minister realize that Narayanan, a retired IPS officer of the 1965 batch and former Director of the Intelligence Bureau, is more experienced than him in security matters and also enjoys the trust of 10, Janpath. This was apparent at the Civil Services Awards function on April 21. Those present included Cabinet Secretary KM Chandrashekhar, Principal Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Secretariat TKA Nair, Vice-President Hamid Ansari, a former IFS officer, and Narayanan himself. The applause for Narayanan’s address must surely have dampened Chidambaram’s spirit. It is evident that, if the UPA returns to power, Narayanan’s position is secure.
Cul de sac for Neera Yadav
The controversial former Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh Neera Yadav joining the BJP on the assurance of a Lok Sabha ticket by party president Rajnath Singh took party stalwarts like Murli Manohar Joshi and LK Advani quite by surprise. They immediately set about opposing the decision.
Neera is reportedly close to Mulayam Singh Yadav and has the dubious honour of having been voted one of UP’s most corrupt officials by the state IAS association. While the fairness of the voting drew criticism from many quarters, the man who spearheaded the move, Vijay Shankar Pandey, also faced charges of corruption during his stint as Managing Director, UP Spinning Mills. He is now the new Brahmin face of Mayawati’s government, reportedly enjoying unlimited power in the Chief Minister’s Secretariat as the Additional Cabinet Secretary.
Neera belongs to western UP and wields considerable influence among the masses because she has extended help to many people throughout her career. Rajnath, who is contesting the Parliamentary election from western UP, felt he would benefit from her entry into the party. When he did not budge under pressure from Joshi and Advani, Pandey made a clever move.
He told his supporters in the state IAS Association as well as Rajnath that, if Neera was given a ticket for the Lok Sabha polls, the Association would make public all the files relating to corruption during her career. A former yesman of Joshi during the NDA regime, Pandey thus endeared himself to Mayawati, Joshi and Advani, and pre-empted any likely threat to his career in the event of Neera becoming an MP.
The author is retired as Professor from the University of Delhi in 2024. He is an alumnus of IIM Indore and holds a PhD from the Delhi School of Economics. An investor activist and former member of various SEBI committees. He taught Capital Markets and Investment Banking at leading business schools of India.
