With the BJP leadership not taking any chances regarding governance, the Rekha Gupta-led Delhi government is off to a planned start. Six senior officials are being appointed as advisers, or OSDs, to monitor decision-making and ensure ministers remain on course closely. A senior DANICS officer will also serve as the secretary for each of the six cabinet ministers.
This clearly indicates that this administration takes business seriously. After winning the election, the BJP is committed to fulfilling its promises, which is challenging in a city with a long history of political rivalry. With a secretary and two special secretaries to assist them, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) has an organised team in place to ensure smooth governance.
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In contrast, the Kejriwal-led government took a different approach during the previous administration, assigning party functionaries to ministers in various capacities. While political control may have been assured, this often led to an overcrowded secretariat with too many hands in the pot and unclear roles. Reflecting on the Sheila Dikshit era, the contrast is striking. Her governance model collaborated well with the bureaucracy and did not require additional political appointees to oversee operations.
Gupta’s new system is evidently an attempt to provide structure and discipline, but it also raises the question of whether this is a necessary administrative step or merely a means to exert greater political control.
Who’s calling the shots in the J&K arms licence scam?
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is chasing down missing paperwork in the protracted arms licence scam involving senior IAS officers in Jammu & Kashmir. In its latest move, the MHA has requested the J&K Chief Secretary to resubmit prosecution proposals against three officers—Yasha Mudgal, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, and Niraj Kumar—because some documents remain unaccounted for.
This isn’t the first reminder. Earlier in February, the MHA also instructed the J&K administration to expedite the CBI’s prosecution requests for two more IAS officers—M Raju and Prasanna Ramaswamy G—after obtaining the necessary approval from Ladakh’s Lieutenant Governor.
The entire process has been dragging on, with files shuffling back and forth, yet no concrete action has been taken. Let’s not forget that the J&K administration had already recommended prosecution sanctions for five officers in December 2024 for allegedly issuing fraudulent gun licences in exchange for financial gains—serious business, if proven true. But despite all this, the MHA is still awaiting a final response from the J&K government.
Meanwhile, the General Administration Department (GAD) in J&K is continuing to gather details on IAS officer P K Pole, while jurisdictional debates persist over Prasanna Ramaswamy G’s case, since the alleged violations occurred in Ladakh. Additionally, there’s the pending examination of cases against three more officers—Jitendra Kumar Singh, Ramesh Kumar, and, once again, Prasanna Ramaswamy G.
Is this merely another case of bureaucratic lethargy, where the system operates at a glacial pace until the fervour subsides? Or is there an unwillingness to act decisively against senior officers? Whatever the case, this saga is beginning to resemble less an anti-corruption crackdown and more an administrative merry-go-round.
From FIR to ADG: The curious case of Amit Lodha
Amit Lodha’s story is one of the most dramatic in the world of Indian bureaucracy. Lodha, a former police officer who is now a best-selling author, rose to prominence with Bihar Diaries, which was later adapted into Khakee: The Bihar Chapter, a Netflix sensation. However, real-life controversies followed shortly after the arrival of reel-life glory. His career appeared to be in danger due to a formal complaint, accusations of disproportionate assets (DA), and an Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigation.
And yet, the Bihar government has now elevated Lodha to the position of Additional Director General (ADG). There are more questions than answers about the move. Was this a tacit admission that the accusations against him were unfounded? Or does it portend a change in the political tide, where his “larger-than-life” persona, which was previously viewed as a liability, is now being welcomed?
It had been conjectured that his popularity in films had annoyed Bihar’s political establishment, making a comeback improbable. They obviously misread the script. Naturally, the ED investigation and the vigilance case remain significant. The ED’s case is based on the same grounds as the DA case that the state’s own vigilance department filed against Lodha in 2022.
Shouldn’t these charges matter if they are serious in a system that takes pride in its integrity? Or do babus follow their own version of realpolitik, where decisions are made more by internal equations, public opinion, and influence than by following the law?
Lodha’s promotion is perhaps just another reminder that, in the end, it’s not just about crime and punishment—it’s also about timing and political calculus in a world where headlines change more quickly than policies.
