5 Most Powerful Bureaucrats 2015: Who are they and how they influence corridors' power dynamics

THE BoI list of 5 Most Powerful Bureaucrats, 2015, is out. As we had mentioned in our December 31, 2015 post, there were very few powerful bureaucrats at the Centre in 2015, making it difficult for the BoI to prepare a more acceptable and error-free list. Since 2009, this website has been publishing an annual list of 5 Most Powerful Bureaucrats sometime in August-September every year. For 2015, BoI finds former IPS, ex-spy and current National Security Adviser Ajit Doval as the most powerful bureaucrat. Yes, there were criticism against him when…

2nd Most Powerful Bureaucrat 2015: Who is Ram Sewak Sharma and how he keeps lobbyists at bay

IN THE backdrop of an estimated Rs 200-crore advertising blitz by internet giant Facebook for its Free Basics campaign in India, coupled with intense lobbying by many telcos, India’s telecom regulator TRAI’s decision on Monday to prohibit differential tariff and calling it “discriminatory” is quite a bold one. And the man behind taking such a decisive stand after withstanding all pressure and preserving what’s called net neutrality is none other than a bureaucrat — a 1978 batch former IAS of Jharkhand cadre Ram Sewak Sharma. A former Mission Director of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) or Aadhaar and ex-information technology secretary, this tech-savvy bureaucrat is now the chairman of TRAI — Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. In BoI’s list of 5 Most Powerful Bureaucrats 2015, Sharma is…

BoI Power List 2015: Why foreign secretary S Jaishankar is India’s 3rd most powerful bureaucrat

Jaishankar with minister of external affairs Sushma Swaraj

THE way Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought in S Jaishankar, the topper of 1977 batch IFS, as India’s foreign secretary in January end, 2015, by virtually sacking 1976 batch incumbent officer Sujatha Singh, says it all – Jaishankar is influential, powerful, talented and preferred to his peers to anchor India’s diplomacy. BoI in its assessment has found, Jaishankar is the…

5th Most Powerful Bureaucrat, 2015: Bengal’s Sanyal, Chhattisgarh’s Aman Singh, Assam’s Bhanu

MGVK Bhanu

THE year 2015 was quite unique, at least for Delhi’s power corridors! The bureaucrats in powerful positions made conscious effort to give an impression that they wield no power at all. The fear has been palpable: If you are seen as a powerful bureaucrat, there are chances that you may be pulled down, and that too to a level where from a return journey is impossible. The fear thus is real. After all, will any finance secretary like to be shifted out to the ministry of minority affairs? BoI which has since 2009 published annual list of 5 Most Powerful Bureaucrats (in August/September every year), based on the feedback of bureaucrats, journalists, political leaders etc. decided to…

5 Most Powerful Bureaucrats, 2014: Top slot remains vacant; Doval and "Mishra Square" play key roles

PM Modi with Australian dancers in Sydney. (File photo)

BoI Power List 2014 is finally out. And after considering the views of about 50 people who understand the nuances of changing equation of corridors of power and incorporating Babus of India’s editorial inputs, here are five most powerful bureaucrats under Narendra Modi regime:

PMO’s Mishra Square: India’s second most powerful bureaucrat, 2014

PK Mishra (July 2008 photo)

THE PMO under Narendra Modi has a Mishra Square, quite literally. Two of Modi’s confidants, principal secretary to PM Nripendra Misra and additional principal secretary to PM PK Mishra are calling the shots in South Block, though many in the corridor are convinced by now that between the two, PK is more influential. In BoI Power List 2014, Mishra Square is the second most powerful bureaucrat. When Gujarat cadre retired IAS…

Home Secretary Anil Goswami: How “Kaki” is India’s 3rd Most Powerful Bureaucrat

Inspecting a toilet as part of Clean India campaign

DAYS before Narendra Modi took charge as the Prime Minister of India, home secretary and 1978 batch IAS officer Anil Goswami had a chance to brief him about internal security. As the meeting proceeded, it appeared, Modi had already known quite a lot about this Jammu and Kashmir cadre officer who was divisional commissioner of Jammu, chief executive officer of Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (first CEO after it was taken over by the government in 1986) and principal secretary to the then chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. And that meeting itself cleared doubts that…

Why is foreign secretary Sujatha Singh India’s fourth most powerful bureaucrat?

Sujatha Singh in Japan

FOR 1976 batch IFS officer Sujatha Singh, it was not a cakewalk for getting appointed as India’s foreign secretary succeeding Ranjan Mathai in July last year. A year down the line, with another government at the helm, Mrs Singh has turned a key person behind prime minister Narendra Modi’s highly successful diplomatic venture so far. In BoI Power List 2014, diplomat Singh is India’s 4th Most Powerful Bureaucrat. In fact, when Modi Sarkar took charge in May this year, there were credible reports that Mrs Singh’s junior and…

India’s 5th Most Powerful Bureaucrat: Why Mr Peon is powerful?

FOR the sixth consecutive year, BoI is coming out with a power list that includes India’s 5 Most Powerful Bureaucrats. Like in the past, our ranking is based on off-record interactions with at least 50 bureaucrats, apart from considering inputs from politicians, academics and journalists who understand corridor’s changing power equations. Then, who is India’s 5th Most Powerful Bureaucrat, 2014? For that you have to first read what…

India's Most Powerful Bureaucrats, 2013: Corridors’ Durgas 1st, Pulokaseth 3rd

WHEN young Indians fearlessly question the conduct of India’s high and mighty, a top-ranked post may no longer give a license to a bureaucrat to flex his muscles. The BoI Power List 2013, based on the opinions of about 100 people including politicians, bureaucrats and civil society activists, has ranked Durgas of bureaucracy as India’s Most Powerful Bureaucrat, 2013. Those who understand the nuances of corridors of power say…

BoI Power List 2013: CBI director Ranjit Sinha ranked 2nd most powerful bureaucrat

A Caged Parrot. Really?

WHEN 1974 batch Bihar cadre IPS officer Ranjit Sinha was appointed as CBI director in November last year, there was nothing much about him in public domain, except that he was friendly with RJD leader Lalu Prasad, and he had some issues with Prasad’s successor in the ministry: Mamata Banerjee. The Opposition BJP did not like Sinha’s appointment, and it continued to term CBI as Congress Bureau of Investigation. And the Supreme Court called it a “caged parrot” as late as May this year. But very soon, the government of the day realised that forcing Sinha to toe its line was tough. In fact, Sinha draws his power not so much from his chair but from the…

Know Pulokaseth of Delhi’s corridors? Chatterji-Seth combo ranked as 3rd most powerful bureaucrat

Seth-Chatterji

BoI has always called this combo, of principal secretary to PM Pulok Chatterji and his batch-mate, friend and cabinet secretary Ajit Kumar Seth, as Pulokaseth. Between the two, Chatterji is more authoritative and decisive. But Seth’s indispensability had emerged when the Prime Minister took a call to extend his two-year tenure by one more year in May last, even as then DoPT secretary PK Misra was considered...

BoI Power List 2013: Diva of Diplomacy Nirupama Rao ranked India's 4th most powerful bureaucrat

Nirupama Rao is former foreign secretary of India. Post-retirement, she has been assigned the job of India’s ambassador to US. Why then BoI chooses to call Rao, a 1973 batch retired Indian Foreign Service officer as India’s fourth most powerful bureaucrat? BoI Power List 2013 is based on the opinion of about 100 people including politicians, bureaucrats and civil society activists who understand the nuances of corridors of power. And the reason why Rao has figured in the list is because of her immense…

BoI Power List 2013: Ex-IRS, Chhattisgarh secretary Aman Kumar Singh is India's 5th Most Powerful Bureaucrat

SOUNDS odd, but you do spot highly powerful bureaucrats, that too non-IAS, a thousand miles away from the usual power corridors of Delhi’s North and South Blocks. This Indian Revenue Service officer of 1995 batch went to Raipur on a deputation when Raman Singh took over as the chief minister 10 years ago. He left the Central service mid-way and decided to serve one of India’s youngest states, Chhattisgarh on a full-time basis. Here is why Aman Kumar Singh is India’s 5th most powerful bureaucrat, according to…

India's Most Powerful Bureaucrats, 2012; Pulok Chatterji tops BoI list

Pulok Chatterji (Middle). Menon, Mathai are also seen

THE final BoI List of India’s Most Powerful Bureaucrats, 2012, is here. And this is the fourth year in running, www.babusofindia.com has come out with the list of 5 most powerful Indian bureaucrats. This time, the selection is based on opinion of about 100 people including politicians, bureaucrats and civil society activists who understand the nuances of corridors of power: who goes up and who is lagging behind. The power list incidentally includes a seasoned diplomat, a state chief secretary and even a joint secretary for the first time.
And ladies and gentlemen, the most powerful Indian bureaucrat in 2012 is none other than…

BoI Power List 2012: Shiv Shankar Menon is 2nd most powerful bureaucrat

Menon with PM

IS India’s second most powerful bureaucrat a Chinese speaking person? You may say so, jokingly. National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon’s mother tongue is Malayalam but he speaks Chinese as fluently as someone from north of the McMohan Line. He speaks German too. But his ability to speak multiple languages does not qualify him to be powerful. BoI has chosen this ultra-low profile diplomat to be India’s second most powerful bureaucrat because…

BoI Power List, 2012: Mr Investigator is 3rd Most Powerful Bureaucrat

Rai (Left) with CBI Director AP Singh

WITH high-voltage corruption cases being probed across the country, India’s investigators continue to be a highly powerful breed of bureaucrats. Directly or indirectly, the investigators are inspired by auditor Vinod Rai who took on the Prime Minister’s Office to give a subtle message that independent authorities should be fearless, and must not buckle under political pressure. Rai, who was BoI’s most powerful bureaucrat in 2011, has lost his earlier sheen as the same “formula of presumptive losses” may not always work. But BoI has…

BoI Power List, 2012: PMO official BVR is 5th Most Powerful Bureaucrat

THIS is the fourth year the BoI (www.babusofindia.com) is coming out with its annual list of India’s 5 Most Powerful Bureaucrats. As we repeatedly mentioned in the past, the power list does not necessarily reflect the conventional bureaucratic hierarchy. Instead, those powerful bureaucrats are chosen on the basis of an officer’s connect, capabilities and power to influence the system. The list of the movers and shakers of the power corridors is prepared after evaluating off-record opinions of 100 people including politicians, bureaucrats, civil society activists etc.
And BVR Subrahmanyam, a 1987 batch Chhattisgarh cadre IAS, is India’s 5th Most Powerful Bureaucrat, 2012. First, read what Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh himself has to say about BVR: