“The PM is very fond of Odia officers, it seems,” chuckled the representative of a prominent Ahmedabad company who has worked closely with Narendra Modi. The remark came after former RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das was appointed as Principal Secretary-2 to the Prime Minister. Das, a product of Delhi University, was a 1980 batch IAS officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre who ascended the bureaucratic ranks to become Revenue Secretary before being promoted to the 25th Governor of the RBI. It is unusual for an RBI Governor to make the leap to Principal Secretary to the PM, underscoring that the PM clearly sees Das as a valuable asset for executing his agenda.
Das hails from Bhubaneswar and attended DM School before moving to Delhi, where he gained admission to St. Stephen’s College. He was born in 1957.
The PM already has a Principal Secretary, P K Mishra, another Odia who studied at the Delhi School of Economics before joining the IAS in the Gujarat cadre. Although Mishra has been a valuable and long-serving aide to Modi, he wishes to retire. Mishra has worked with Modi since the early days of the Gujarat administration and served as Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister during pivotal years.
“He is fully in tune with Modi,” says Rajiv Shah, who has worked closely with Mishra throughout the crucial years in Gujarat. After 2002, Mishra moved to Delhi to become Union Agriculture Secretary and later served as a member of the National Disaster Management Authority. When Modi became PM in 2014, Mishra was appointed Additional Principal Secretary. Nripendra Mishra, from UP, was appointed Principal Secretary but vacated his position when the Ram temple at Ayodhya needed to be prioritized. Subsequently, P K Mishra was appointed Principal Secretary, a role he has performed with flair.
BJP leaders, particularly from Gujarat, have long eyed Odisha with hopes of capturing power there. They have long believed Odisha shares similarities with Gujarat, largely due to the prominence of Vaishnava culture. Gujaratis, too, are predominantly Vaishnavites, which inspires devotion to Lord Krishna. In Odisha, the Vaishnava culture has been spread by the Jagannath Temple in Puri, influencing Odia people, particularly in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. Cuttack, Puri, and Bhubaneswar are the three coastal districts that have had the most profound influence on Odia culture.
These districts are among the most prosperous in the state, benefiting from rapid growth and fertile agricultural lands that have driven increased farm productivity. Puri’s temple hosts an annual Rath Yatra, which is mirrored by the Jagannath Temple in Ahmedabad. Modi once pointed out to me how Gujarat also boasts a Sun Temple in Modera, drawing parallels between it and the Sun Temple in Konark. “I think there are only two major sun temples in the country,” Modi had noted.
Beyond the coastal districts, Odisha is also home to a significant tribal population in its inland areas. G C Murmu, who served Modi in Gujarat, ultimately as Home Secretary in the state, is also a tribal Odia from Mayurbhanj district. Murmu is now the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India and previously served as the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu & Kashmir. He is a loyal officer to Modi, and those familiar with him suggest that Murmu, burdened by his tribal roots, feels that Modi’s consideration has significantly uplifted him.
The President of India, Droupadi Murmu, is also a tribal Odia who rose to prominence under the guidance of Prime Minister Modi. She hails from Mayurbhanj and comes from a humble tribal background. Murmu has faced a challenging life, but her education in Bhubaneswar, where she attended school and college, was transformative. She began her career as a clerk, later returning to her home region to teach. Tragically, her husband and son passed away within a short time, casting a shadow over her life. During this period, she became drawn to the Brahmakumaris.
At a certain point, she ventured into politics and became a minister in Naveen Patnaik’s Odisha government, representing the BJP. She was later elevated to the position of the Governor of Jharkhand and, in 2022, became the youngest President of India at 64. Odias across the country are jubilant about this development, believing that Modi has given them a sense of pride and recognition. Historically, Odias have felt marginalised, often treated as not-so-equal citizens of the country. Now, for the first time, a BJP government has taken charge in Odisha, with expectations high that it will earnestly implement Modi’s agenda.
Kingshuk Nag is a senior journalist who worked for TOI for 25 years in many cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore & Hyderabad. Known for his for fire brand journalism, he is also a biographer of Narendra Modi (The NaMo Story) and many others.
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