The Importance Of Being Brajesh
The Opposition and the Sangh Parivar launch an attack on the Prime Minister's Office by targeting the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Brajesh Mishra. The Vajpayee camp finds itself fighting a grim political battle to retain credibility even as the Establishment tries to discredit the Tehelka allegations. An analysis.

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COVER STORY: BRAJESH MISHRA

The Importance of Being Brajesh Mishra

The Sangh, key ministers and NDA allies hold the principal secretary responsible for the crisis in the Government. Yet, he enjoys Vajpayee's trust. The inside story.

By Prabhu Chawla

Brajesh mishra loves press conferences and there was more than a trace of the usual imperiousness on his face as he strutted into Delhi's Shastri Bhavan last week. The relevant and irrelevant sections of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in tow, the 72-year-old principal secretary to the prime minister wasn't in an explaining mood. His bulbous eyes gleaming defiantly, jaw jutting out and lips curled in a half sneer, Mishra was not just addressing the press, he was taking them on. Furious at the accusations levelled at him after the Tehelka.com tapes shook the Government, he wasn't protesting his innocence, he was asserting it.

ALTER EGO: Mishra virtually makes up Vajpayee's mind for him on major issues

Few politicians would have got away with such pugnacity. But Mishra did. Not merely because he was sure of his facts but because he had the full backing of the prime minister. His message was simple and forthright: I will stay as long as the prime minister tells me to; I will go if it strengthens his hands. The unstated theme-I remain indispensable to Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Then, before the stunned hacks could recover their composure, Mishra walked off, in triumph.

It could well be the bravado of a man effecting his last stand. But Mishra, frankly, couldn't give a damn. At the best of times he is cocky and adversity doesn't change him much. If Vajpayee represents the benign face of the Government, Mishra epitomises its raw abrasiveness. For a man who has been a diplomat for 34 years, there is nothing diplomatic about Mishra.

As principal secretary, national security adviser, the special envoy to France for strategic dialogue and member of countless committees established by the prime minister, Mishra is arguably one of three most powerful individuals in the NDA Government. Some would say the most powerful. No other principal secretary-not even the redoubtable P.N. Haksar who served Indira Gandhi-has acquired such an awesome profile or been at the centre of such controversy.

Last week, Mishra was not only targeted by the Opposition but also by sections of the Government and the Sangh Parivar. RSS chief K.S. Sudarshan called for "competent" people to be appointed to the PMO; two Samata Party MPs tried to link the party's return to the Government with Mishra's removal; and Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna wanted both Mishra and Officer on Special Duty (OSD) N.K. Singh sacked. Many cabinet ministers met Vajpayee and, without specifically seeking Mishra's removal, urged him to take a serious look at his office.

The disorientation in the ranks was understandable. Since he joined the PMO on March 19, 1998 as Vajpayee's personal nominee, Mishra has set his own rules: that he won't be yet another faceless bureaucrat. He is the voice of a prime minister who, despite his legendary communication skills, has inexplicably lost his voice. Mishra doesn't merely speak for the PMO, he speaks for the prime minister. Somewhere along the line, Vajpayee allowed the two to become indistinguishable.

Mishra first made it so on May 11, 1998, by being the only man in the Government to address the media after the Pokhran blasts. According to the PMO, he did it on Vajpayee's instructions. It set the tone of an uninterrupted innings that has divided the Government, strained Vajpayee's relations with his party and the Sangh Parivar, and created an image problem for the Government. Powerful Union ministers, including Home Minister L.K. Advani, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh and NDA convener and former defence minister George Fernandes have at various times let their displeasure with Mishra be known to Vajpayee.

It hasn't made an iota of difference. An unmoved prime minister has let it be known he would rather quit than succumb to pressures for Mishra's removal. He has harped on his unfettered right to choose his personal staff, a principle no one can fault. Unwilling to press home the point, Mishra's detractors have effected a tactical retreat. But once the din of the Tehelka scandal recedes, the issue is certain to reappear.

Why does Mishra invite such hostility? The answer lies in his overweening desire to grab the limelight, so far the prerogative of elected politicians. Mishra is the only principal secretary who can't resist media glare. He loves appearing on TV talk shows and holding forth on subjects ranging from economic reforms to nuclear diplomacy. After becoming principal secretary, he has addressed three press conferences and appeared on TV talk shows on more than 150 occasions. During Vajpayee's foreign tours, it is Mishra who briefs the media, never mind the presence of even the foreign minister. He exudes the confidence of a man who thinks he was born to rule.

Political and bureaucratic circles believe that Mishra has taken full advantage of Vajpayee's introvert and laidback personality and has gradually usurped his public role. He has become the public face of the Government. Since Vajpayee rarely speaks his mind in official meetings, it is Mishra who makes up the prime minister's mind on crucial issues. Says a senior cabinet minister: "Sometimes we get the impression it is Brajesh, not the prime minister who has the final say."

That's not an inaccurate assessment. If Vajpayee doesn't know how to say no, Mishra is incapable of taking no for an answer. He has definite views that he insists others must endorse. If there is resistance, he does the next best thing-take charge himself by riding roughshod over departmental niceties.

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