NaMo administration has been a Zigsaw puzzle for all and sundry including senior bureaucrats working with him and one such recent example being appointment of P K Sinha as Senior Principal Adviser to the PM. The designation that is something unheard of and people are still guessing. However, the appointment of Dr P K Mishra as Principal Secretary to the PM replacing Nripendra Mishra was on expected lines.

 

It may be underlined that Sinha is probably the first Union Cabinet Secretary to have been moved to the PMO. But deciding a designation for him could not have been as easy as his role and responsibility in the PMO.

 

Top sources say that designation of additional PS to the PM could not be very apt for Sinha who had held the highest office of the Cabinet Secretary and probably this being the reason that the PM decided for an unconventional but a professional sounding designation for Sinha i.e. Senior Principal Adviser to the PM.

A few more reasons could be attributed to this. First, drafting Sinha in the advisory role would not restrict him in a rigid framework but provide him a wide canvas to give his advice to the PM on policy, its implementation and coordination with different ministries. Secondly, it would rule out any possibility of No 01 and No 02 wrangling in the PMO. Both the PK would draw a parallel for themselves. P K Mishra would continue to rule the turf i.e. ACC which makes top appointments at the Centre whereas P K Sinha would play key role exhibiting conflict resolution skill with a human touch.

 

Senior bureaucrats observed that now the PMO would be more cohesive and synergetic as both of them share good rapport with each other and Khulbe has carved a niche for himself under the guidance of PK Mishra. Nripendra Mishra had often been termed a too tough task master but P K Sinha possesses softer attributes. Further, having coordinated almost all ambitious and flagship schemes of the PM and even having handled complicated scheme like GST & demonetisation gives him advantage.

 

Further, the PM during the farewell hosted on Monday termed Nripendra as a ‘Precious Treasure’ of competence, skill, experience and wished him all the best for embarking on a new phase of his life. But those attended the function say that the PM had well indicated some key role and assignment ahead for him.

 

What still remains a mystery is that none could reach to a conclusion whether the race for Additional PS to PM is over?