Narendra None-2: Political Sandwich!

'app apna kaam theek 
kar rahe  hain

S Narendra, former advisor to PM, recounts his 
experiences during change of guard at PMO

Working as government PR point person when power gets transferred from one political order to another is very tricky. I was caught in this uncertain situation in May 1996, when BJP formed the government and lasted for 13 days.

I was Spokesperson for the government of India as well as information adviser to PM.. The gracious BJP leader, Atal Behari Vajpayijee received me very cordially when I called on him and told me that I should continue to function as before. His I&B minister Smt Sushma Swaraj was equally gracious and was highly supportive.

However, there were many others who were keen to replace me - few with themselves! They were carrying tales against me and had branded me as a Congress fellow traveler. It was no fault of mine that Congress party was in power longer than any others and as part of permanent civil service, I had served governments that happened to belong to the Congress.

One of the charges against me that had surfaced was that as the government spokesperson, I had kept in readiness a draft speech to be delivered by Narasimha Rao, soon after his swearing in after the 1996 elections. It is customary for newly sworn in PM to make a national broadcast, and I was supposed to have assumed that Rao would be reelected as PM. A secondary accusation was also in circulation stating that being a Kannadiga, I had kept ready a draft speech for Janata party candidate Devegowdaji,  as PM. It was conveniently ignored that the latter was a last minute compromise choice by John front, after Christmas had vetoed Joti Basu's candidacy.

It took little time for such allegations to acquire velocity. I was more than willing to step down from my position but Smt Swaraj and senior Journalist TV R Shenoy, who was close to BJP leadership, assured me that there was no move to replace me. But the story that I had prepared in advance draft speeches for Rao and Devegowdaji continued to make the rounds.  

When you are in PR and media jobs, it is a great advantage to anticipate developments and have an appropriate plan to deal with it. Such advance planning has to become a second nature when one is serving a PM and heading the government communication system. In this case, the truth was that expecting a hung Parliament after the polls, I had kept ready three draft speeches, one for BJP candidate, another for Congress  and a third one for a candidate from the other political front. I had drawn inputs for the drafts after carefully studying the different election manifestos and campaign statements. As a measure of

abundant precaution, I had submitted the file containing all the three drafts to the outgoing I&B minister P A Sangma and even obtained his signature. When I showed this file with the ex –minister’s signature to Smt Swaraj, that also contained a draft speech for BJP leader, she had a hearty laugh. Next day, she went on to announce that the government had no plans to replace me, as it had full confidence in me.

The PM Vajpayijee personally spoke to me to tell me that I was doing my job as expected by the government: “Humko galat soochana deegayithi. app apna kaam theek kar rahe  hain" There is more to this 13 days official Spokesmanship. But in the next installment!