Tale of two Misras: Narendra Modi begins to increasingly rely his Man Friday, PK Misra, retired IAS, Gujarat

Nripendra Misra

By Our Representative
Indications have emerged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is “upset” with his principal secretary Nripendra Misra, the person handpicked from what an organization which many believe operates under RSS’ wings, Vivekanand Foundation. Modi has increasingly begun to rely, instead, another Misra, his principal secretary in Gujarat during the 2002 anti-Muslim riots, says an authoritative report. Quoting sources in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the report adds, Nripendra Misra has already been “overshadowed by his subordinate, additional principal secretary PK Misra”.
Nripendra Misra attracted unusual attention when he was made the Prime Minister’s principal secretary on May 27, 2014. The reason was that his appointment required an amendment in the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, which was quickly pushed through, so that Modi could have him on his side – one whom he considered his favourite and belonged to an ideology to which he also subscribed. Retired IAS bureaucrat of the 1967 batch, as former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman, Misra established his reputation as a no-nonsense man.

PK Misra

The report says, Misra angered Modi over an interview he gave to The Hindu, where he spelled out priorities of the economy. Especially focusing on the need to bring in reforms in infrastructure and policy reforms, Misra said there was a need to ask why, despite large investments, completed power projects were not operational, why the National Highway Authority of India was unable to deliver on road building targets, and why despite India’s rich natural resources, earnings from exports of minerals had come to a halt while coal was being imported.
The reason for relying more on PK Misra is not far to seek: A long-time Modi loyalist, Misra, who served as principal secretary to Modi between 2001 and 2004, remained close to Modi even after his retirement in 2008. He was awarded chairmanship of Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission on his return from Delhi deputation, and was consulted by Modi in all IAS placements right up till 2014. The report says, Misra has already started scrutinizing all Cabinet notes and representing the PMO at cabinet meetings – tasks were traditionally performed by the principal secretary.

The report says, there is reason to believe that this is part of a larger trend visible within this administration, as every significant post in the PMO has been filled with officials who worked with Modi in Gujarat. Other prominent members of the Gujarat cadre IAS officers include AK Sharma, Modi’s secretary in the chief minister’s office in Gandhinagar, who is joint secretary in the PMO; and Rajiv Topno, private secretary to the Prime Minister, whom Modi called “out man in PMO when Manmohan Singh was Prime Minister.
This apart Modi’s press notes continue to be handled by Jagdish Thakkar, his public relations officer in Gujarat, and social media by Hiren Joshi, who did the same job in Gandhinagar for Modi. In addition to this, even at the junior level, the Prime Minister trusts persons from the home state. These include Sanjay Bhavsar, who looked after all of Modi’s appointments in Gandhinagar, and Tanmay Mehta and Dinesh Thakur, who remained with Modi to take care of his personal issues. The report also mentions two more names, Prateek Doshi and Hemang Jani, both from Gujarat.

Comments

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.

'Anti-poor stand': Even British wouldn't reduce Railways' sleeper and general coaches

By Anandi Pandey, Sandeep Pandey* Probably even the British, who introduced railways in India, would not have done what the Bhartiya Janata Party government is doing. The number of Sleeper and General class coaches in various trains are surreptitiously and ominously disappearing accompanied by a simultaneous increase in Air Conditioned coaches. In the characteristic style of BJP government there was no discussion or debate on this move by the Indian Railways either in the Parliament or outside of it.

Why convert growing badminton popularity into an 'inclusive sports opportunity'

By Sudhansu R Das Over the years badminton has become the second most popular game in the world after soccer. Today, nearly 220 million people across the world play badminton. The game has become very popular in urban India after India won medals in various international badminton tournaments. One will come across a badminton court in every one kilometer radius of Hyderabad.

Faith leaders agree: All religious places should display ‘anti-child marriage’ messages

By Jitendra Parmar* As many as 17 faith leaders, together for an interfaith dialogue on child marriage in New Delhi, unanimously have agreed that no faith allows or endorses child marriage. The faith leaders advocated that all religious places should display information on child marriage.

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.

Ayurveda, Sidda, and knowledge: Three-day workshop begins in Pala town

By Rosamma Thomas* Pala town in Kottayam district of Kerala is about 25 km from the district headquarters. St Thomas College in Pala is currently hosting a three-day workshop on knowledge systems, and gathered together are philosophers, sociologists, medical practitioners in homeopathy and Ayurveda, one of them from Nepal, and a few guests from Europe. The discussions on the first day focused on knowledge systems, power structures, and epistemic diversity. French researcher Jacquiline Descarpentries, who represents a unique cooperative of researchers, some of whom have no formal institutional affiliation, laid the ground, addressing the audience over the Internet.

Article 21 'overturned' by new criminal laws: Lawyers, activists remember Stan Swamy

By Gova Rathod* The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Gujarat, organised an event in Ahmedabad entitled “Remembering Fr. Stan Swamy in Today’s Challenging Reality” in the memory of Fr. Stan Swamy on his third death anniversary. The event included a discussion of the new criminal laws enforced since July 1, 2024.

Hindutva economics? 12% decline in manufacturing enterprises, 22.5% fall in employment

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak* The messiah of Hindutva politics, Narendra Modi, assumed office as the Prime Minister of India on May 26, 2014. He pledged to transform the Indian economy and deliver a developed nation with prosperous citizens. However, despite Modi's continued tenure as the Prime Minister, his ambitious electoral promises seem increasingly elusive.

Union budget 'outrageously scraps' scheme meant for rehabilitating manual scavengers

By Bezwada Wilson* The Union Budget for the year 2024-2025, placed by the Finance Minister in Parliament has completely deceived the Safai Karmachari community. There is no mention of persons engaged in manual scavenging in the entire Budget. Even the scheme meant for the rehabilitation of manual scavengers (SRMS) has been outrageously scrapped.

Search This Blog