Dilli Ka Babu: Rise of the outsider

Bihar’s babus have not taken election strategist Prashant Kishor’s ascendance in the Nitish Kumar government very well. After crafting Mr Kumar’s victory in last year’s Assembly elections, Mr Kishor stayed on as an adviser at the behest of the chief minister to oversee implementation of the government’s policies.

Babus are fiercely protective of their turf and the presence of an “outsider” like Mr Kishor, who is neither a babu nor an elected representative, but enjoys a wide free-wheeling mandate, has created resentment among the senior babus, many of whom now have to report to him. Recently a chief secretary-rank babu S.K. Rakesh sought voluntary retirement on health grounds, but sources say that the action had more to do with

Mr Kishor’s overbearing presence than the babu’s concern for his health. There are, of course, rumours that the chief minister will push Mr Kishor for a Rajya Sabha seat, election for which is slated for June, and probably many bureaucrats are hoping for just that. Whether that comes to pass or not, the babus and even netas have little option but to try to come to terms with the emergence of a parallel power centre in Bihar.

Controversial appointment

P.K. Mohanty is the new chief secretary of Kerala, but babu circles in the state are still abuzz with the Oommen Chandy government’s decision to elevate his predecessor Jiji Thomson as the chief minister’s adviser, with a Cabinet rank, barely a couple of days before Mr Thomson retired.

Mr Chandy, who will lead the United Democratic Front in the upcoming Assembly elections, is under a cloud due to several scams that have rocked the state in recent months. The decision to make Mr Thomson his adviser has not gone down well with a strident Opposition, which is now demanding that the appointment be cancelled.

Mr Chandy is not likely to oblige. Sources say that Mr Mohanty was appointed as the new chief secretary only because there was some opposition to giving Mr Thomson a three-month extension as sought by the chief minister. Having been stymied by his colleagues, Mr Chandy still stuck by Mr Thomson and got his colleagues approval to make him an adviser. Mr Thomson will reportedly coordinate all major developmental initiatives of the state government.

Decisive moment

The political dissension within the Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat is affecting the state bureaucracy as well. Since Narendra Modi became Prime Minister he has brought many of his favourite babus to the Centre, but not K. Kailashnathan, who was his additional chief secretary for a number of years, which surprised many.

When Mr Kaliashnathan retired in 2013, he was promptly given an extension and made chief principal secretary. Reportedly, Mr Modi asked the babu to stay on in Ahmedabad to work with his successor Anandiben Patel. For a while, sources say, the arrangement worked just fine. But now the chief minister is apparently increasingly wary of the Modi-Shah faction among the babus and has quietly started sidelining

Mr Kailashnathan, since he is allegedly close to her political rival and BJP president Amit Shah. With a decision on giving further extension to the babu coming up soon, observers are wondering whether the chief minister will toe the line or strike a daringly different note!