The Gujarat model is under strain
cers brought into crucial government positions. A roll call in the PMO, senior bureaucracy and investigating agencies reveal a disproportionate number of Gujarat cadre officers, a majority of whom had worked closely with the prime minister previously.
It could be argued that Mr Modi is simply following a precedent set by most prime ministers. But choosing trusted bureaucrats to stay within ones ‘comfort zone’ is one thing, seeking to disregard constitutional norms and institutional independence while making critical appointments is quite another. If the eas- ing out of Raghuram Rajan as RBI governor, exposed the government to the charge that it was intolerant of alternate voices, howsoever credible, the CBI controversy is a pointer to a potentially even more damaging accusation: the Modi government is seeking to intervene in politically sensitive cases and protect ‘tainted’ officers.
Remember, the prime minister’s biggest calling card has been his self-styled image as a crusader against corruption, best defined in his one-liner, ‘na khaoonga na khane doonga’. Now, if within 24 hours of an FIR being filed accusing Mr Asthana of virtually running an extortion racket, the CBI director Alok Verma who triggered the FIR is shunted out in a midnight coup and the investigation team changed, what is the message being sent out? Was he removed because of a turf war or because, as has been speculated, he was planning to investigate the contentious Rafale deal? Mr Asthana too may have been reluctantly forced out but will the serious charges against him be fully investigated or forgotten? It maybe time for the prime minister to break his silence and reveal his ‘mann ki baat’ on these uncomfortable questions.
Post-script: When the United Progressive Alliance was in power, the CBI was classified as a ‘caged parrot’ by the SC so what tag should we now attach to a CBI split wide open under the National Democratic Alliance? A vulture perhaps, feeding on its own carcass of dwindling credibility as an agency free of political interference?
Rajdeep Sardesai is senior journalist and author The views expressed are personal