After five months in office, prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee finds himself in an unenviable position. His Government is in peril and political instability and economic stagnation continue to plague the country. In the week after the 51st Independence Day, he has held several strategy sessions with his close aides and this is their prescription:

Innovative Politics: Vajpayee has been firmly told that if he is seeking a longer term in office than most think, he has to indulge in a bit of political engineering. Since his philosophy of granting functional autonomy to his ministers has not yielded any tangible results, he should revert to the highly autocratic administrative models practised by both Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv. Or, alternatively, he will have to invent a model of guided democracy in which he takes the crucial decisions and leaves the job of their implementation to others.

Responsive and Proactive Cabinet: At present, the prime minister presides over a cabinet, most of whose ministers lack both initiative and drive. Having been denied the right to choose his own cabinet, the prime minister is now under pressure to put together his own team. He has to restructure his A-team comprising 10 key ministers who will report to him and none else. It will be essential for them to have the following qualification: drive, integrity and a capacity to take quick decisions.

Bureaucratic Accountability: Vajpayee feels that there has been a serious erosion in the credibility of civil servants due to their excessive politicisation during the past two decades. Senior officials with tainted track records have been able to manoeuvre their way into key positions by doing nothing more than tapping the right political connections. His Government does not remain unaffected by this dangerous malaise. His attempts to weed out controversial officials have been thwarted by his own party as well as its allies. Now Vajpayee has been told by his advisers that, in addition to the recently effected bureaucratic reshuffle, he must find at least 10 top civil servants who will assist his key ministers in the implementation of his policies and decisions. Simultaneously, he will have to get rid of at least 25 secretaries, 40 additional secretaries and over 50 joint secretaries to ensure quick and better compliance.

Team Management: A major drawback of the BJP-led Government has been its utter failure to deal with its allies. On top of it, Vajpayee has had to grapple with the growing demands of the Sangh Parivar. Yet, so far, he has failed to put in place an effective mechanism for resolving these intra-party contradictions. As a result, a set of extra-constitutional centres of power has emerged within the Government and the party. Vajpayee will soon be nominating permanent point men to deal with both allies and adversaries.