Kharge writes to PM on ‘politicising of bureaucracy, Armed Forces’; Nadda hits back

“In both cases, of civil servants and soldiers, it is essential that government machinery is kept out of politics, especially so in the months leading up to an election,” Kharge said. “In view of protecting our democracy and our Constitution, it is imperative that the orders which would lead to the politicising of bureaucracy and our Armed Forces must be withdrawn immediately,” he said.

For the Modi Govt, all agencies, institutions, arms, wings, and departments of the government are now officially ‘Pracharaks’ !

In view of protecting our democracy and our Constitution, it is imperative that the orders which would lead to the politicising of Bureaucracy and our… pic.twitter.com/t9hq0N4Ro4

— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) October 22, 2023

Kharge’s letter came a day after Congress media department head Pawan Khera shared on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) an order, dated October 18, of the Department of Revenue, under the Finance Ministry, regarding the deployment of officers of the ranks of joint secretary, director and deputy secretary as district “rath prabharis” (special officers) for the “Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra”.

It mentioned an internal order of the Agriculture Secretary, dated October 14, on showcasing/ celebrating the achievements of the Modi government through the yatra, to be organised across the country from November 20 to January 25. It said the special officers would be appointed in each of the 765 districts in the country, covering 2.69 lakh gram panchayats.

Calling it a “matter of great public importance which is of concern not just to the INDIA parties but also to people at large,” Kharge said the order was a “gross misuse of government machinery… in service of the ruling political party”.

“It is a clear violation of the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964, which directs that no government servant shall take part in any political activity. While it is acceptable for government officers to disseminate information, to make them ‘celebrate’ and ‘showcase’ achievements blatantly turns them into political workers of the ruling party. The fact that only ‘achievements’ of the last 9 years are being considered, gives away the fact that this is a transparently political order in the run-up to the five state elections and the general elections of 2024,” he wrote.

“If senior officers of departments are being deputed for marketing activity of the current government, the governance of our country will grind to a halt for the next six months,” he wrote.

Referring to the Defence Ministry’s October 9 order, Kharge said: “The Army Training Command, which should be focused on preparing our jawans to defend the nation, is busy preparing scripts and training manuals on how to promote government schemes.”

“It is of utmost importance in a democracy that the Armed Forces are kept out of politics. The loyalty of every jawan is to the nation and to the Constitution. To force our soldiers to become marketing agents of government schemes is a dangerous step towards politicisation of the Armed Forces,” he said.

Moreover, he said, “after many months or years of difficult service to our nation, our jawans deserve complete freedom on their annual leave, to spend time with their families and restore energy for continued service”. Their leave, he said, must not be hijacked for political purposes.

Criticising the government, Kharge said while the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax Department and the CBI are already “acting as election departments of the BJP, the orders mentioned above put the entire government machinery to work as if they are agents of the ruling party… All agencies, institutions, arms, wings and departments are now officially ‘pracharaks’.”

It baffles me to see the Congress Party have an issue with public servants reaching the grassroots to ensure saturation of schemes. If this not the basic tenet of governance, what is?

Regarding opposition to a ‘Rath’ it is a fit use of public resources unlike using warships as…

— Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) October 22, 2023

Hitting back at Kharge, BJP president J P Nadda posted on ‘X’: “It may be an alien concept to the Congress Party, but public service delivery is the duty of a government. If the Modi Govt wants to ensure saturation of all schemes and ensure all beneficiaries are reached, nobody who has the interest of the poor in his mind can have a problem. But Congress only has an interest in keeping the poor in poverty and hence their opposition to the saturation drive.”