MUKESH RANJAN
New Delhi
May 31: The balance of power at the Centre has now shifted from North to South. If peninsular India increased its political clout by grabbing key ministries under its belt after the general elections, the babus from the region continue to hog the limelight in the second round of the UPA government too. Like A.K. Antony, P. Chidambram and S.M. Krishna, who are defence, home and external affairs ministers respectively in the Central government, the top notch among bureaucrats in Rashtrapati Bhavan, the PMO, Cabinet Secretariat, external affairs, commerce and industries etc. come from South India.
Interestingly, this is a perceptible and decisive shift from tradition since India’s Independence, when northern states like united UP and Bihar used to dominate and occupy important places both politically and in bureaucracy. Because of this and also distance from the national capital, the southern states used to have some sense of alienation. But now it seems that the turn of events has taken a full circle, as the two dominant states have a very thin presence in the government.
A closer look at the profile of current non-political instruments of the government reveals that even among the southern states, Kerala dominates the lot. Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar, who comes from Andhra Pradesh, is a Kerala cadre office. Similarly other important officers, who fall in this category, include National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan, secretary to the President of India Christy Fernandes and principal secretary to the PM T.K.A. Nair.
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