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THE NATION:
PMO
The
Supercrat
Vajpayee's
principal secretary has emerged as a strong power centre. But his critics
say he has bitten off more than he can chew and has become the target
of a proxy war against the prime minister.
By
Raj Chengappa
They
may be adversaries in a battle that has already riven India's incestuous
strategic circle. But reputed defence analyst K. Subrahmanyam is awed
by the supercrat status that Brajesh Mishra, principal secretary to the
prime minister, has acquired and says, "In the degree of his influence
over the prime minister and his closeness, he stands alone." Pushpesh
Pant, professor of diplomacy at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi,
impishly describes Mishra as "a hybrid between Chanakya and Henry
Kissinger". And adds, "Let me tell you, Brajesh is never ever
going to go into the night gently."
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The
PM's Man
Strangely,
the complaint against Mishra is not that he does not brief the prime
minister enough but that he tends to check with him even on issues
that don't merit his attention. And that he tends to monopolise
access control to the prime minister. Vajpayee intrinsically trusts
Mishra and rarely overrides his advice.
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Mishra, 72,
is aware that he occupies the hottest and most coveted bureaucratic seat
in government. Whether it is the recent dramatic moves in Kashmir, a controversial
reshuffle of secretaries, monitoring the unbridled import of Chinese goods
or taking secret reviews of India's nuclear preparedness, he revels in
being in the vortex of such decision making. His critics say that the
problem is that he increasingly wants to be the centre of it. That Mr
Troubleshooter, as he is known among official circles, was becoming a
law unto himself. There is also a growing perception that Mishra is biting
off more than he could chew. And that the former foreign service officer's
lack of experience in the intricacies of administration was beginning
to tell on the efficacy of the prime minister on domestic policy issues.
Part of
the increasingly strident criticism against Mishra's style of functioning
comes from the friction that the post of principal secretary itself generates.
Yet the person has always defined the job. And in the past two and a half
years, Mishra has emerged as one of the most powerful principal secretaries
South Block has seen. Just 50 ft of red carpet separates his room from
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's spartan office. And when the prime
minister is in, it is said that Mishra is never too far away. Strangely,
the complaint against Mishra is not that he does not brief the prime minister
enough. But that he tends to do it even on issues that have no real need
to be discussed with the prime minister. It is probably one of the reasons
why Vajpayee intrinsically trusts him and rarely overrides his advice.
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| Jain's
allegations against Misra have caused some discom |
There are
many other attributes that make Mishra excel as the prime minister's Man
Friday. For one, his bluntness makes him get to the point quicker than
most other bureaucrats. A former senior Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)
official enumerating Mishra's attributes says he is "competent, professional,
clear thinking and focused". According to N. Narasimhan, former secretary
of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), Mishra's most distinguishing
characteristic is "his steel-stomach" and his willingness to
stand by his tough decisions.
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METRO TODAY
Ayodhya
is an issue that is pre-determined. And it matters little in the present
fuss that the foremost casualty is the truth, writes INDIA TODAY Deputy
Editor Swapan Dasgupta in 