NEW DELHI: Akbarnama
What finally brought about the exit of MJ Akbar? Not the informal discussion senior ministers had post a Cabinet meeting, after the PM left the venue, where they gave vent to their agitation over the allegations against the now former MoS, External Affairs. Nor was it entirely the RAW and MEA reports suggesting Akbar’s presence in any future international tour could be a cause of embarrassment for the government, given the coverage the issue received in the international media.
The reason why his resignation was not sought immediately was because the PM did not want to appear buckling under pressure without allowing Akbar a statement. But what was not factored in when Akbar filed the controversial defamation suit singling out Priya Ramani was the collective outrage from women journalists, and the manner in which new voices came out, asking the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance of their experiences as well.
It seems, in the end, BJP chief Amit Shah weighed in against Akbar as “not such a big enough asset” to risk the party’s relations with the media before the elections. Also, Akbar was a lateral entry into the government with no mentor as such in the BJP.
All about protocol!
The reconstitution of the SPG — not the Special Protection Group that guards our VVIPs, but the Strategic Policy Group, with the NSA, Ajit Doval in the chair -- has created quite a flutter. Entrenched policy wonks used to a hierarchy-bound Delhi durbar are frothing at the mouth over what they see as overcentralisation of power in the hands of a single individual. How can the three service chiefs meet under the chairmanship of an IPS officer, they ask, incredulously. Also, the top IAS and IFS officials (the Cabinet, Foreign and Defence secretaries). And all this when the Modi government is on its home stretch.
The powerful Cabinet Committee on Security is itself being subverted, some say. (That the National Security Council or the National Security Advisory Board has either been disbanded or remained dysfunctional for four years seems to have escaped attention.) Well, the reason the NSA was made the chairman has more to do with protocol, as much as his reputation for being India’s foremost security expert-cum-sleuth.
Both the NSA and the NITI Aayog V-P hold MoS rank, which weighs in above that of the top-most bureaucrat, the Cabinet Secretary. And it would have been strange to have the NITI Aayog V-P chair a top security body, and not the domain expert, Doval! Far more importantly, the NSA was appointed chairman of the Defence Planning Committee a few months ago, a body that virtually takes all the crucial calls in the Defence Ministry.
Is something amiss?
The RBI has made public its dissent note on the inter-ministerial committee’s proposal to set up a separate Payments Regulatory Board outside the central central bank’s ambit. Naturally, its stance has raised eyebrows. Though it’s only to be expected that the RBI will try to guard its own turf, it has fuelled the already circulating whispers in North Block that all is not well between the RBI Governor, Urjit Patel, and top echelons of the government.
After former CEA Arvind Subramanium, the RBI governor is the next high-profile person who’s being seen as not exactly on the same page as the government. The buzz is he’s not ready to sacrifice his own reputation and credibility by being pliable.