Ever since the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance came to power last year, there has been a steady trickle of bureaucrats from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat to the rarefied corridors of power in Delhi.
At last count, as many as 30 officers of the Gujarat cadre had been shifted to Delhi after Modi moved to the Prime Minister’s Office in South Block. Many others were waiting to get posting in the Capital. But the Patel quota agitation that has roiled Gujarat for several months has put a temporary halt to the transfer of at least three senior officers to the Centre: K. Kailashnathan, advisor to Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, Ahmedabad police commissioner, Shivanand Jha and Surat police commissioner, Rakesh Asthana.
Known to be a very close Modi confidant, Kailashnathan, the 1979 batch IAS officer hailing from Kerala, was to be shifted to Delhi soon after the formation of the new government but he was retained in Gujarat as the Prime Minister’s pointperson in the state.
Key role
Over the past few months, fresh moves were made to bring him to Delhi but the Patel stir has nixed his immediate chances of being shifted out. As the chief minister’s right-hand man, Kailashnathan has a crucial role to play in dealing with the Patel agitation.
Kailashnathan’s association with Modi dates back to 2006 when he was appointed principal secretary in the chief minister’s office. He proved to be indispensable to Modi who gave him additional responsibilities as principal secretary in the information department. Kailashnathan was said to have ensured that Modi was kept out of harm’s way in the course of the innumerable investigations into the 2002 riots. Not only was Kailashnathan credited with running the Chief Minister’s Office efficiently, he was also involved in the building of Brand Modi as his work extended into the political sphere.
Given his vast experience, the seasoned bureaucrat is said to have been entrusted with managing the political fall-out of the reservations stir, particularly since it has serious ramifications for the Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat. The powerful Patel community extended its unstinted support to Modi during his tenure as Gujarat chief minister and the BJP could find itself on a sticky wicket if the Patels are not persuaded to drop their opposition to the ruling party by the time the next assembly elections are held. Having failed in this effort so far, the nervous Gujarat government decided last week to postpone local polls for governing bodies down to the taluka level as the BJP was not sure how it would fare.
It is for the same reason that Ahmedabad’s police commissioner Shivanand Jha and his counterpart in Surat Rakesh Asthana have been asked to stay on. Jha had his hands full as the Ahmedabad police is in the eye of a storm after it resorted to unprovoked firing when Patel community leader Hardik Patel recently organised a massive rally to press his demand for reservations. Asthana has also been kept on his toes since Surat is the nerve centre of the stir.
Easy transition
Had the three officers moved to Delhi, they would have joined the growing ranks of Gujarat cadre bureaucrats who currently call the shots in the Capital. Modi is known to rely more on bureaucrats than his ministerial colleagues. When he took over as prime minister last year, it was clear that a sizeable number of officers who had worked with him during his tenure as chief minister would be brought to the Centre as they are familiar with his style of working and could be depended upon to implement his flagship programmes.
Giving details about the Gujarat cadres officers presently posted in Delhi, a recent report in Outlook magazine said, “From Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers to Indian Police Service (IPS) officers, from law officers to even Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers, the Gujarat cadre is omnipresent. Of course, many of them are known to be competent. For 13 years in Gujarat, where Modi was chief minister for three consecutive times, it was these officers who drove the development agenda.”
But this is not a new phenomenon. Every government and Prime Minister brings in its favourite and trusted bureaucrats. If Gujarat is the flavor of the season now, Kerala cadre officers dominated key positions when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government was in power for ten years. Kerala was the chosen one since former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s principal secretary TKA Nair was from that state. As a result, most key positions like home secretary and foreign secretary were held by bureaucrats from Kerala.
At last count, as many as 30 officers of the Gujarat cadre had been shifted to Delhi after Modi moved to the Prime Minister’s Office in South Block. Many others were waiting to get posting in the Capital. But the Patel quota agitation that has roiled Gujarat for several months has put a temporary halt to the transfer of at least three senior officers to the Centre: K. Kailashnathan, advisor to Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, Ahmedabad police commissioner, Shivanand Jha and Surat police commissioner, Rakesh Asthana.
Known to be a very close Modi confidant, Kailashnathan, the 1979 batch IAS officer hailing from Kerala, was to be shifted to Delhi soon after the formation of the new government but he was retained in Gujarat as the Prime Minister’s pointperson in the state.
Key role
Over the past few months, fresh moves were made to bring him to Delhi but the Patel stir has nixed his immediate chances of being shifted out. As the chief minister’s right-hand man, Kailashnathan has a crucial role to play in dealing with the Patel agitation.
Kailashnathan’s association with Modi dates back to 2006 when he was appointed principal secretary in the chief minister’s office. He proved to be indispensable to Modi who gave him additional responsibilities as principal secretary in the information department. Kailashnathan was said to have ensured that Modi was kept out of harm’s way in the course of the innumerable investigations into the 2002 riots. Not only was Kailashnathan credited with running the Chief Minister’s Office efficiently, he was also involved in the building of Brand Modi as his work extended into the political sphere.
Given his vast experience, the seasoned bureaucrat is said to have been entrusted with managing the political fall-out of the reservations stir, particularly since it has serious ramifications for the Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat. The powerful Patel community extended its unstinted support to Modi during his tenure as Gujarat chief minister and the BJP could find itself on a sticky wicket if the Patels are not persuaded to drop their opposition to the ruling party by the time the next assembly elections are held. Having failed in this effort so far, the nervous Gujarat government decided last week to postpone local polls for governing bodies down to the taluka level as the BJP was not sure how it would fare.
It is for the same reason that Ahmedabad’s police commissioner Shivanand Jha and his counterpart in Surat Rakesh Asthana have been asked to stay on. Jha had his hands full as the Ahmedabad police is in the eye of a storm after it resorted to unprovoked firing when Patel community leader Hardik Patel recently organised a massive rally to press his demand for reservations. Asthana has also been kept on his toes since Surat is the nerve centre of the stir.
Easy transition
Had the three officers moved to Delhi, they would have joined the growing ranks of Gujarat cadre bureaucrats who currently call the shots in the Capital. Modi is known to rely more on bureaucrats than his ministerial colleagues. When he took over as prime minister last year, it was clear that a sizeable number of officers who had worked with him during his tenure as chief minister would be brought to the Centre as they are familiar with his style of working and could be depended upon to implement his flagship programmes.
Giving details about the Gujarat cadres officers presently posted in Delhi, a recent report in Outlook magazine said, “From Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers to Indian Police Service (IPS) officers, from law officers to even Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers, the Gujarat cadre is omnipresent. Of course, many of them are known to be competent. For 13 years in Gujarat, where Modi was chief minister for three consecutive times, it was these officers who drove the development agenda.”
But this is not a new phenomenon. Every government and Prime Minister brings in its favourite and trusted bureaucrats. If Gujarat is the flavor of the season now, Kerala cadre officers dominated key positions when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government was in power for ten years. Kerala was the chosen one since former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s principal secretary TKA Nair was from that state. As a result, most key positions like home secretary and foreign secretary were held by bureaucrats from Kerala.
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