You can choose your friends, but not your relatives. Whether you like or oppose your family, you have to learn to live with them and work with them. Right? For a politician in power, who are his friends and who are his relatives? Any guesses?
Yes, the government in power and the bureaucracy are like relatives. They may not like each other, but they are members of the same family who have to work with each other to get the best results for the nation. They do not have the option of choosing. They may show their dissent, get upset with each other, but at the end of the day, they have to walk together and respect each other. Only then will the Nation progress well.
The Modi Government when it came to power in 2014, did not replace any bureaucrats in the North or the South blocks. Narendra Modi did not even change the RBI Governor quoting any silly reason. He even accepted the Army Chief who was appointed just a week before the Election results. The Judiciary too did not see any changes in selection or seniority elevations or any such biased appointments. Narendra Modi treated all of them with respect. When word was rife about the dismantling of the famed ‘Congress Ecosystem’, Modi did no such thing randomly. And he was panned for it & all political pundits and supporters said that one day it would come to bite him.
Whether it bit him or not, is something for another day. One has to appreciate that the respect Modi Government gave to the Bureaucracy, the Armed Forces, the Police Forces, is one which is unparalleled. But at the same time, he is considered a strict task-master. And those used to corruption, blind following of ‘orders from the top’, etc. did not like it. They dropped off and while doing so, blamed Modi for it, without fail. They called him a fascist / dictator / hard task-master / whatever. Modi never reacted to bad press. Like the head of any family, he kept quiet in public.
Contrast this to Arvind Kejriwal of the AAP and the fiasco between the Bureaucrats in Delhi & the CM of Delhi. Contrast this to Kamal Nath of the Congress, who as soon as he came into power, cancelled all BJP bureaucratic appointments. He has transferred 42 officers so far. Akhilesh Yadav, Mayawati, and all other Opposition Politicians are very well known for transferring IAS and IPS officers as soon as they have taken the reins of their States respectively. They are known for keeping close to them and in positions of power, only those bureaucrats who are subservient to them. WHY?
Coming to friends, who are they? The Manipulative Press, of course! PM Modi has obviously not learnt the art of making many friends there, maybe because he is wary of ‘fair weather’ friends. That is why for every silly reason, the biased Press & Media makes a mountain of every molehill shown by the Congress or other random opposition parties. But at the same time they misdirect the readers/viewers when anything good or important work done by the Modi Government has to be shown. Why else would the Press & MSM go gaga over Rafale & Rahul or Nasiruddin Shah instead of the arrest of Christian Michel or the successful implementation of such a huge tax structure change as the GST?
It is pertinent to note that time and again, retired historians and bureaucrats, who have been used to being posted in creamy positions, have written to the PM, CAG, President, Press, etc. to show their ‘agony’ about ‘authoritarian rule’ and their support to their old masters. Relatives! Sigh!
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