The quiet exit of the brilliant Nehchal Sandhu, deputy national security adviser, “for personal reasons” more than 20 months ahead of his scheduled departure, took many by surprise. While it is being seen as part of Modi sarkar’s ongoing purge of United Progressive Alliance appointees in the uppermost echelons of government, whispers suggest that Mr Sandhu quit because in a rare display of esprit de corps — out of loyalty to two other colleagues (who incidentally were UPA appointees) who retired from the National Security Council Secretariat — Ajit Lal, chairman of the Joint Intelligence Council (JIC) and Lt. Gen. Prakash Menon (Retd.), military adviser to the NSA.
Mr Modi was rather keen to retain Mr Sandhu’s services, especially as Ajit Doval, national security adviser, was also keen, but Mr Sandhu had clearly made up his mind to put in his papers. Reportedly, Mr Modi even gave him a commendation letter, praising the former Intelligence Bureau director. Clearly, Mr Sandhu’s successor and former Indian Foreign Service officer Arvind Gupta has some big shoes to fill.
