Modi stands by ‘tainted’ official

While no bureaucrat is willing to come on record, many say the government wants to effectively keep out A.K. Pradhan, who is next in line for the chief secretary’s post and is known to be unpliable. Pradhan retires in April, so he’s unlikely to get the top post. This will clear the path for Ashok Narayan who, according to sources in the bureaucracy, is on easy terms with the present dispensation.

Subba Ram himself refused to comment on the extension given to him and the controversy it has generated. ‘‘Let us cut this out. I don’t want to discuss anything,’’ he told The Indian Express.

‘‘All this sends a wrong signal to the bureaucracy,’’ said a senior bureaucrat. ‘‘It means non-performers will be rewarded. He is not known to take decisions on crucial issues, and leaves things to the Chief Minister or other ministers. So, in effect, they become political decisions.’’

On Subba Rao’s alleged inaction post-Godhra, the bureaucrat said: ‘‘During the crucial hours after the Godhra carnage, when the administration needed a strong leadership, it was not provided. There were no clear-cut instructions from the top for the administration or the police. The results were there for all to see.’’

Chief Election Commissioner J.M. Lyngdoh, too, had found fault with Subba Rao’s functioning. During his visit to assess the suitability of conditions for holding elections in Gujarat, Lyngdoh is believed to have expressed his displeasure with the Chief Secretary.

After a meeting with Subba Rao and other officials at the Circuit House (Annexe), Lyngdoh is learnt to have expressed outrage that the Chief Secretary had tried to present communal flare-ups as a ‘‘normal situation’’ in the state even as junior officials were giving contradictory reports.

In his 19-page report after the visit, Lyngdoh had noted: ‘‘The Chief Secretary and the DGP painted a scene of normalcy in Gujarat although an undercurrent of tension and fear was prevailing during that apparent normalcy.’’

Modi, who was Chief Minister when the riots raged, has other reasons as well to have a pliable bureaucrat in the top post.

According to sources in the IAS lobby, several reports on the riots have been kept under wraps by the Chief Secretary: reports from district collectors and police officers on how the riots were organised, the people involved, the action taken or not taken against riot organisers, the intelligence gathered and whether or not the government acted on them.

A bureaucrat with a mind of his own might cause the government some embarrassment on these reports.