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COVER STORY: BRAJESH MISHRA
Why Is Brajesh's Position So
Secure?
It is this cockiness
that is at the heart of an ongoing tussle between two parivars: the Sangh
Parivar and the prime minister's parivar. Mishra hasn't been able to establish
a comfortable relationship with the majority of cabinet ministers. His
former colleagues in the BJP have stopped dealing with him because he
has been insensitive to their compulsions and denied them access to their
leader. Yet, his position remains secure. What is the reason?
The uncharitable version is that Mishra has
been able to feed on Vajpayee's sense of vulnerability. He appears to
have successfully convinced the prime minister and his family that his
job is only to look after their interests. He claims to keep Vajpayee
fully informed. Consequently, he enjoys unhindered and unlimited access
to the prime minister's household, including its dining table. He visits
the Vajpayee home at 3 Race Course Road at least twice each day and even
shares an evening drink with Ranjan Bhattacharya, Vajpayee's foster son-in-law.
Mishra is the principal secretary but in an act of Brahmanical bonding,
he has also become a part of the Vajpayee household.
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Woesome Twosome: Mishra (left) is the one-man super-MEA and with
Singh's induction economic policy too is under the PMO
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Mishra
hasn't made the PMO the expert body it should be. He has brought
in largely middling officials who play second fiddle.
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No one questions Mishra's loyalty to Vajpayee
or his integrity. Nor is there any doubt that by freeing Vajpayee from
details, he leaves him free to focus on the big picture. But there is
a perception he also exploits Vajpayee's trust to ram through an agenda
that is at variance with the collective wisdom of the Government. Senior
ministers are miffed that he keeps them in the dark even on subjects relating
to their own ministries.
Jaswant has been most affected by this unilateralism.
He and Mishra have strong disagreements on key issues involving India's
relationship with the US and China. Officials have witnessed verbal exchanges
between the two in Vajpayee's presence. During the prime minister's visit
to the US last year, Jaswant wasn't shown the texts of his speeches. It
was only after Jaswant made an issue of it that Vajpayee asked Mishra
to send the speeches to him before they were finalised.
The problem is Mishra considers foreign affairs
to be his own turf. He has got Vajpayee to reverse diplomatic appointments
made by Jaswant. Recently, it was decided that N.K. Singh would be sent
to Canada as high commissioner. But within 24 hours of Jaswant leaving
on a foreign tour, Mishra ordered the file to be kept in abeyance. Previously,
there were differences between the two over the choice of India's ambassador
to the US, with former foreign secretary Lalit Mansingh becoming the compromise
choice. Two years ago, when Vajpayee appointed Jaswant, the then Planning
Commission deputy chairman, as his special envoy to the US, Mishra had
to be placated with the post of special envoy to France.
During the past three years, Mishra has made
several trips abroad without any prior consultation with the foreign minister.
He runs his own innovative diplomatic channels that bypass existing institutions.
In 1998, he used the Hinduja brothers to organise a meeting with British
Prime Minister Tony Blair. He has been conducting his own back-channel
diplomacy with Pakistan without taking either Advani or Jaswant into confidence.
He has even utilised the help of the Reliance Group to establish his links
across the border.
Using his position as national security adviser,
Mishra has tread on Advani's toes. He has packed the National Security
Advisory Board with his own people. Though the Department of Kashmir Affairs
was reverted to the Home Ministry in 1998, Mishra has been taking an undue
interest in the state without going via the ministry. The PMO, however,
claims that Advani has always been kept informed. But two months ago,
the Home Ministry came to know of the appointment of A.S. Dullat as OSD
to the prime minister on Kashmir affairs from the newspapers. It was interpreted
as Mishra's bid to bring Kashmir under his direct charge.
Mishra has also annoyed Sinha by pitting Singh
against him and packing his ministry with PMO-nominated officials. In
October last, when Sinha wanted to change key officials, he wasn't given
a choice. He argued his case with Mishra for three hours but finally accepted
Ajit Kumar, Mishra's candidate, as finance secretary. The PMO also prevailed
in the choice of heads of various financial institutions.
Initially, Mishra dabbled in foreign policy,
a subject he was familiar with. However, with the induction of Singh in
the PMO in 1998, Mishra found in him a powerful ally in managing politics
and the civil service. The PMO soon became the fulcrum of all activities
on the economic and diplomatic front. Singh persuaded Vajpayee to head
various working groups on economic matters. Over six such groups were
appointed and both Singh and Mishra became its members. This move gave
Singh a legitimate excuse to summon officials from ministries and influence
their decisions. It also provided Mishra the luxury to focus on politics
and diplomacy.
Ironically, apart from Singh, Mishra never encouraged
the induction of other senior officials into the PMO. Vajpayee's PMO is
perceived as one institution that lacks both talent and expertise. Under
Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, the PMO was manned by stalwarts like Manmohan
Singh, Gopi Arora, R. Vasudevan, H.Y. Sharada Prasad, Montek Singh Ahluwalia,
Ronnen Sen and Arjun Sengupta. All were experts in their own fields. Now
barring IAS officer Ashok Saikia, who enjoys Vajpayee's trust, Mishra
has drafted a motley crowd of ex-journalists and middle-level civil servants.
By keeping the PMO weak, he has emerged stronger.
The Tehelka tapes may have stirred Vajpayee
but it hasn't shaken his confidence in Mishra. The principal secretary's
show of defiance last week was shrewdly prefaced on the belief that no
responsible section of the NDA would seriously press for his removal now
because it would affect Vajpayee's standing. Even his detractors want
to delink Mishra's removal from the Tehelka issue. Which explains the
whispers about a Rajya Sabha seat and a cabinet berth. Depending on the
pressure on Vajpayee, it may or may not happen. But for Mishra, that's
the breathing space he needs to successfully conduct his business as the
prime minister's hit man.
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