Never before has the mood within the labyrinthine corridors of the Dilli Darbar been as anti-incumbent as it is today. More interestingly, never has the mood been as ‘pro-challenger’ as it seems to be today. Delhi’s ‘babudom’ has already voted — in favour of a change of Government. A large majority would like to see Narendra Modi as their next prime minister.

The residual minority may go on April 10, when Delhi votes, and cast their ballot in favour of a candidate of the Aam Admi Party, knowing full well that it would be a wasted vote, but at least cast against the Congress. The votes in favour of AAP are truly ‘anti-incumbent’ — in the sense that these are negative votes against the current dispensation. But the sentiment for Modi in the Dilli Darbar is not merely ‘anti-incumbent’, it is ‘pro-challenger’.

This phenomenon, of the higher bureaucracy desperately seeking change in the political leadership of Government, has been seen before in various State capitals. Sick and tired of the corruption, the bossism, the uncouth ways of this or the other dictatorial chief minister in that or the other State, civil servants have in the past contributed to the public mood of anti-incumbency and even helped shape it. Delhi has rarely, if ever, witnessed this phenomenon.

The Dilli Darbar may have been relieved when Indira Gandhi, the ‘Empress of India’, was voted out in 1977 but the mood then was more anti-incumbent than pro-challenger. The higher civil service may have wanted to see the back of whoever was in power but rarely has it favoured the challenger as much as it seems to favour Modi today. Call it upper-caste bias, as the sociologists, the psephologists and the political scientists are wont to, but the sentiment is strong.

Several factors have contributed to this but none more than the manner in which the Congress Party leadership and its ministers have treated the civil service. Senior civil servants are also deeply disappointed with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after seeing his response to the action taken by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case of two upright civil servants — former coal secretary PC Parakh and former head of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), CB Bhave. They contrast this with the manner in which Modi praises and defends his loyal civil servants.

In a recent television interview Modi recalled the work of officers who had served him and his state well in his early days as chief minister — PK Misra and G Subba Rao. While journalists have panned Modi and the interviewer Madhu Kishwar for the shoddiness of a PR-job, Delhi’s babudom has taken note of the fact that Modi remembers those who have served him and his State well. More to the point, these are good officers, not just ‘family retainers’.

It is possible that the civil service will eventually be disappointed if Modi does not rise up to their expectations. Many may cry foul if they are removed from their present positions because they would be seen as having been too close to the current dispensation. And, the Bharatiya Janata Party may well expect Modi to do what Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was forced by the Congress Party to do in 2004. At that time, Dr Singh had to change the cabinet, home and defence secretaries — all good and highly regarded officers. Will Modi do the same if and when he becomes PM?

But that thought would not bother more than a handful. An overwhelming majority are waiting for a Head of Government who would re-empower them and restore their elan. That, without doubt, is the mood in the corridors of the Dilli Darbar.

Apart from such hopes for themselves, many in the Indian administrative service (IAS) are also hoping Modi will end the IPS-Raj of the Sonia Gandhi era. From MK Narayanan in Kolkata to ESL Narasimhan in Hyderabad, from BL Joshi in Lucknow and Bharat Wanchoo in Panjim to Ashwani Kumar and KK Paul in the Northeast, retired Indian police service (IPS) officers occupy more Raj Bhavans than retired IAS officers. In Andhra Pradesh a retired IPS officer is administering President’s Rule, telling IAS officers what to do. All this goes against the grain of babudom. The IAS have long considered themselves the purest metal in the steel frame. At the centre, in the Dilli Darbar, they wield more power than any other central service. They hope Modi will restore their status.

Whatever the hopes and aspirations of the higher civil service, most of it has already defected. They want a change of political leadership in Delhi. The ground has shifted in Modi’s favour even before voting has started.

(sanjaya_baru@hotmail.com)

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