Latest from the corridors of power in New Delhi The big picture arising out of my talks with key ministers and bureaucrats Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not happy with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, but the new dispensation is severely short of intellectuals, one of whom can replace him in the Finance Ministry. It is not politically feasible to bring someone from outside and abruptly place him on top. However, economists who have campaigned intellectually for the party will be acknowledged, if not rewarded. Reward has been ruled out because 1. Many of them have said they did not do it for rewards; 2. They have said they are too independent by temperament to be part of a government, or 3. Some have been too demanding for the governments comfort. With these constraints in mind, Modi will shape up the Prime Ministers Economic Advisory and Council. Finance Ministry bureaucrats take serious exception to the planted story in the media that Jaitley read out a speech written by some babu in his Budget address. They say they did nothing other than what they do always: supply the minister with raw data. They say, they were left flummoxed when Jaitley started reading the speech, where only the first two paragraphs were originally from the minister, four odd paragraphs dictated by Modi and the rest just a robotic reading of figures supplied by the bureaucrats! Modi is also not happy with the top 10 bureaucrats who were picked up by the UPA regime, but he does not wish to stir a political storm by removing them all in one stroke. They will go in phases. Modi wished to make Gen VK Singh the Defence Minister right from the beginning, but the former Army Chief is making his own case weaker by getting embroiled in controversies. He will have another chance after Gen Dalbir Suhags retirement. The replacement of the Planning Commission will be a body to coordinate between the Centre and the States. It will certainly not be a planning organ by another name, and it will not be a typical think-tank as is being speculated in the media. Big-ticket reforms will begin post-November after the prime ministers trip to Japan. They will get a renewed thrust in the next Budget. Modi will calibrate his steps based on the levels of patience of different sections of population. He is believed to have divided the people into three broad sections: the most impatient media, which he has decided not to pay much attention to; the moderately patient poor, whom he will constantly work on, and the most patient middle class that has to wait till the end of next year for achchhey din. Modi is reported to believe that the middle classs honeymoon with him will last one-and-a-half years after which he will take more measures to please them.
Posted on: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 11:24:12 +0000
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