No politics here! Manmohan's bureaucrats get pride of place in Modi's plan too

If there’s one thing that stands out with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it’s the fact that he has no qualms gaining from the bureaucratic talent honed by his predecessor.

This is in stark contrast from the Congress, which changed Vajpayee government’s cabinet secretary, defence secretary and home secretary in one stroke after coming to power in 2004.

Anil Baijal, who is now Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, was moved to urban development from home secretary while then defence secretary Ajay Prasad was shifted as civil aviation secretary.


Modi, however, continued with the incumbents and even gave extension to UPA’s cabinet secretary Ajit Seth. The only change was home secretary Anil Goswami following a controversy over a phone call in an ongoing CBI probe. Then defence secretary RS Mathur continued in office and was later made chief information commissioner.

The appointment of BVR Subrahmanyam as chief secretary of Jammu & Kashmir is another such example of how political rivalry hasn’t come in the way of making a fair selection.

He was private secretary to ex-PM Manmohan Singh in UPA-1 and then rejoined his PMO in UPA-2 as a joint secretary. In fact, most officers from Singh’s PMO are in key positions enjoying Modi’s trust.

Defence secretary Sanjay Mitra is also one such case. Like Subrahmanyam, he too was a joint secretary in Singh’s PMO. He was first road &transport secretary and now handling the defence ministry.

India’s Ambassador to Russia Pankaj Saran was also joint secretary in Singh’s PMO. He is now known as a trusted hand, who has worked hard at help establish a rapport between Modi and Putin. He is now being brought back as deputy national security advisor.

Even in the selection of UPSC members, where there are often favourites, Sujata Mehta was appointed as member. She was also in Singh’s PMO.

The approach to political appointments was, however, different. All governors appointed by the UPA, barring NN Vohra (J&K) and ESL Narasmihan (Andhra Prades & Telangana), were asked to resign.

On this count, the government was also clear that officers who served as private secretaries to UPA ministers would not continue with BJP ministers.