May 18, 1998

The Prime Minister's gestures strikes a positive note

Prabhu Chawla

Like bees to honey, chief executives are irresistibly drawn to new ideas. That's what Atal Bihari Vajpayee, India's chief executive is learning. He has been in active politics for the past 40 years. But he has spent less than three years in any government office -- an extremely short period in which to pick up trade secrets, let alone master them. But Vajpayee is in search of a master strategy that will win him friends and disarm his enemies. To begin with, he has decided to end the monopoly of the bureaucracy to aid and advise him. Currently, his closest counsellors are his wily political adviser Pramod Mahajan and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Jaswant Singh. The prime minister is satisfied with their performance. Yet, he is itching for more.

Unmindful of their political orientation, Vajpayee has now chosen to invite retired civil servants, senior politicians, academics from India and abroad and a few top industrialists for a serious pow-wow on sensitive issues like economic reforms, national security and defence and foreign policies. His objective, it appears, is to gather maximum feedback on the problems facing his coalition. Not surprisingly, he has been advised to avoid confrontation either with his allies or his adversaries. Amid the steady stream of bad news pounding the BJP-led Government, his new gesture is striking a positive note.

Things have finally begun to move in the Government. Ignoring populist sentiments, the prime minister cleared the new but controversial power policy. Much to the chagrin of his partymen, Vajpayee counselled Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj not to adopt a confrontationist approach on Prasar Bharati. It was following his instructions that Swaraj abandoned her original plan to sack Prasar Bharati Chief Executive Officer Surrindar Singh Gill till Parliament passed a new legislation, for which Vajpayee intends to seek the help of some opposition parties. He has even suggested to his ministerial colleagues that their officials should regularly brief opposition leaders on major domestic and international problems.

So far Vajpayee has chosen to remain content with merely an advisory role for the prime Minister's office (PMO). In the absence of a powerful PMO, ministers have been encouraged to take their own decisions within the parameters of the National Agenda. Barring the filling up of senior-level vacancies created by the retirement of officials, Vajpayee has not changed any of the important secretaries to the Government. In fact, he is perhaps the only prime minister since 1980 to have resisted the temptation of packing the higher echelons of the bureaucracy with his own trusted people. Even some civil servants who have been campaigning actively against the BJP ideology have not been disturbed.

Yet, the prime minister's politically correct behaviour has not deterred his own ministerial colleagues from causing him embarrassment. For example, both Petroleum Minister K. Ramamurthy and Law Minister M. Thambi Durai have been openly questioning cabinet decisions. Another prime minister would have sent such ministers packing for violating the concept of collective responsibility. But they get away with such improprieties because of the encouragement they have received from their Booty Queen, Jayalalitha. This is where Vajpayee's new mantra will soon be put to test.

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