Skip to main content

Narendra Modi "sounds" PK Misra, his principal secretary during 2002 riots, for a plum Delhi posting

Dr PK Misra
By Our Representative
Dr PK Misra, controversial principal secretary of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi during the 2002 riots, is learnt to have been told that he should join the new team under Modi’s stewardship immediately after the new BJP-led government takes over in Delhi following the Lok Sabha poll results on May 16. A top Gujarat government bureaucrat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Counterview that Dr Misra has been telling his IAS colleagues in Gandhinagar Sachivalaya that he has been “sounded about this by Modi personally".
“Dr Misra is not saying which post he will occupy under Modi, but in all probability will be Prime Minister Modi’s principal secretary”, the official said, adding, “While there are strong rumours that Modi will take along with him his principal chief secretary K Kailashnanthan, a retired IAS bureaucrat who continues to call the shots in the chief minister’s office, and his additional principal secretary AK Sharma, also an IAS bureaucrat, this may not happen”.
Two major reasons are being given for this. First of all, none of these two have any experience in working in Delhi, and are quite “unfamiliar” with the North Block babudom culture. The second, and more important, is that Modi “needs” a team of babus in Gujarat who could continue informing him back home in Delhi about how things were going in Gandhinagar after he leaves Gujarat. “Modi would not like to lose control over the Gujarat administration, even if he installs his closest ally Anandiben Patel as next chief minister”, the official said.
K Kailashnathan
“By contrast”, this official pointed out, “Dr Misra knows Delhi babudom pretty well. He shifted to Delhi in May 13, 2004, expecting the NDA would return to power. He was tipped to become Union home secretary. However, as this did not happen and NDA was defeated, he had to be satisfied with a posting considered sidelined – member-secretary, National Capital Region Planning Board -- before making his way two years later to the plum post of Union agriculture secretary. He also worked as secretary, National Disaster Management Authority, in Delhi.”
Retired in 2008, Misra was awarded with the powerful post of chairman of the Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission -- responsible for fixing power tariffs for different category of power consumers -- for continuing to display his loyalty to Modi. Currently, he serving as director-general of the Gujarat Institute of Disaster Management (GIDM), and Modi is known to have taken his advice for all major babus’ postings in Gujarat government.
A babu claiming to have academic bent of mind – he has authored a book on agricultural marketing – Misra was in touch with Modi even before the latter took over as Gujarat chief minister in October 2001. A known critic of the then chief minister Keshubhai Patel, as head of the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority (GSDMA), formed after the January 2001 killer earthquake, it is widely rumoured, he was behind passing on crucial information to Modi on "rampant corruption" under Modi’s predecessor.
During the first days of the anti-Muslim riots, which broke out on February 27-28, 2002, Misra doggedly followed all instructions of Modi, going so far as to stiffly deny, talking with newspersons, the gruesome murder of ex-Congress MP Ehsan Jafri during the infamous attack on Gulbarg Society incident. "You can quote me, nothing of the sort has happened, the situation in Ahmedabad is absolutely normal”, he was quoted as telling a scribe.
There have been allegations that Misra was present in a crucial meeting in Gandhinagar on February 27, where Modi directed cops and officials to go soft on rioters. A former Gujarat Cabinet minister, Jaspal Singh, in a letter has to the special investigation team (SIT) urged the top body appointed by the Supreme Court to examine Modi’s role in riots, to interrogate Misra, as he was one of those who attended the crucial meeting.
Haren Pandya
Reports say, “written records” suggest Misra instructed the director-general of state intelligence to track Haren Pandya’s movements in 2002, around the time when Pandya deposed before the independent citizens’ tribunal under Justice VR Krishna Iyer. Pandya was murdered in mysterious circumstances in March 2003. According to these reports, an intelligence noting in a police register, dated June 7, 2002, reads: “Dr PK Misra added that Shri Harenbhai Pandya, minister for revenue is suspected to be the minister involved in the matter. Thereafter, he gave one mobile number and asked for getting call details.”
Five days later, on June 12, 2002, there was reportedly another entry in the register: “Informed Dr PK Misra that the minister who is suspected to have met the private inquiry commission (Justice VR Krishna Iyer) is known to be Mr Haren Pandya. I also informed that the matter cannot be given in writing as this issue is quite sensitive and not connected with the charter of duties given to State intelligence Bureau vide Bombay Police Manual.”

Comments

TRENDING

'Draconian' Kerala health law follows WHO diktat: Govt readies to take harsh measures

By Dr Maya Valecha*  The Governor of Kerala has signed the Kerala Public Health Bill, which essentially reverses the people’s campaign in healthcare services in Kerala for decentralisation. The campaign had led to relinquishing of state powers in 1996, resulting in improvement of health parameters in Kerala. Instead, now, enforcement of law through the exercise of power, fines, etc., and the implementation of protocol during the pandemic, are considered of prime importance.

Reject WHO's 'draconian' amendments on pandemic: Citizens to Union Health Minister

By Our Representative  Several concerned Indian citizens have written to the Union Health Minister to reject amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) of the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted during the 75th World Health Assembly (WHA75) in May 2022, apprehending this will make the signatories surrender their autonomy to the “unelected, unaccountable and the whimsical WHO in case of any future ‘pandemics’.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Bihar rural women entrepreneurs witness 50% surge in awareness about renewal energy

By Mignonne Dsouza*  An endline survey conducted under the Bolega Bihar initiative revealed a significant increase in awareness of renewable energy among women, rising from 25% to 76% in Nalanda and Gaya. Renu Kumari, a 34-year-old entrepreneur from Nalanda, Bihar, operates a village eatery that serves as the primary source of income for her family, including her husband and five children. However, a significant portion of her profits was being directed toward covering monthly electricity expenses that usually reach Rs 2,000. 

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Work with Rajasthan's camel herders: German scientist wins World Cookbook Award 2023

By Rosamma Thomas*  Gourmand World Cookbook Awards are the only awards for international food culture. This year, German scientist  Ilse Kohler Rollefson , founder of Camel Charisma, the first of India’s camel dairies, in Pali district of Rajasthan, won the award for her work with camel herders in Rajasthan, and for preparing for the UN International Year of Camelids, 2024. 

Why is electricity tariff going up in India? Who is the beneficiary? A random reflection

By Thomas Franco*  Union Ministry of Power has used its power under Section 11 of the Electricity Act, 2003 to force States to import coal which has led to an increase in the cost of electricity production and every consumer is paying a higher tariff. In India, almost everybody from farmers to MSMEs are consumers of electricity.

'Pro-corporate agenda': Odisha crackdown on tribal slum dwellers fighting for land rights

By Our Representative  The civil rights network Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), even as condemning what it calls “brutal repression” on the Adivasi slum dwellers of Salia Sahi in Bhubaneshwar by the Odisha police, has said that the crackdown was against the tribals struggling for land rights in order to “stop the attempts at land-grab by the government.”

Deplorable, influential sections 'still believe' burning coal is essential indefinitely

By Shankar Sharma*  Some of the recent developments in the power sector, as some  recent news items show, should be of massive relevance/ interest to our policy makers in India. Assuming that our authorities are officially mandated/ committed to maintain a holistic approach to the overall welfare of all sections of our society, including the flora, fauna and general environment, these developments/ experiences from different parts of the globe should be clear pointers to the sustainable energy pathways for our people.

Hazrat Aisha’s age was 16, not 6: 'Weak' Hadith responsible for controversy

Sacred chamber where Prophet and Aisha used to live By Dr Mike Ghouse* Muslims must take the responsibility to end the age-old controversy about Hazrat Aisha’s age at the time of her marriage to the Prophet (pbuh) – it was 16, not 6 (minimum was 16, Max 23 per different calculations). The Hadiths published were in good faith, but no one ever checked their authenticity, and they kept passing on from scholar to scholar and book to book.  Thanks to 9/11, Muslims have started questioning and correcting the Hadiths, Seerah, and mistranslations of the Quran. Now, the Ulema have to issue an opinion, also known as Fatwa, to end it and remove those Hadith entries. Mustafa Akyol, a scholar of Islam, implores Muslims to stop deifying “the received traditions” and critically study their religious past, shedding rigid legalism and close-mindedness. Someone else used the phrase “copycat Muslims” to identify scholars who copied what was given to them and passed it on without researching or questioni