Narendra Modi man retires,may stay in CMO

K Kailashnathan,said to be Narendra Modis closest confidant among bureaucrats,retired as additional chief secretary in the Gujarat Chief Ministers Office.

K Kailashnathan,said to be Narendra Modis closest confidant among bureaucrats,retired as additional chief secretary in the Gujarat Chief Ministers Office Friday,but is expected to be retained in the same office with a key role.

Kailashnathan,popular as KK, served for over a decade in the CMO under Modi,growing as a powerful bureaucrat to become his trusted lieutenant and troubleshooter. Speculation is rife that Modi would not dispense with him in this critical year ahead of the 2014 general elections,in which he aspires to be the BJPs prime ministerial candidate.

KK,A 1979-batch IAS officer, advised Modi on charting out political strategies. It was through him that the CM built bridges with retired Supreme Court judge V R Krishna Iyer,who headed the Concerned Citizens Tribunal which inquired into the Gujarat riots of 2002. Modi visited the judge in Kerala when he went there to attend the wedding of KKs daughter in 2010.

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Kailashnathan told mediapersons on his last day in office that he did not wish to work any more. I have worked for long. I want to take rest now.

KKs proximity with his boss was in the eye of storm when the Congress appealed to the Election Commission to shift him out of CMO,accusing him of misusing government machinery in the run-up to 2012 Assembly elections.

The Congress had alleged that Kailashnathan instructed aanganwadi workers to attend Vivekanand Yuva Vikas Yatra to prove it had got a good response.

A masters in economics from Wales University,Kailashnathan served as industries commissioner and also as Chief Executive Officer of Gujarat Maritime Board,where he was credited with privatisation of ports.

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He also served as principal secretary in the Urban Development Department and as Ahmedabads Municipal Commissioner.

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