It takes two to tango

In a functional democracy, with all its flaws, people can and do change the ruling party. For the bureaucracy, however, a regime change is often fraught with frightening consequences. Smart babus, having read the writing on the wall, insulate themselves from a great fall well in advance. At times, such crucial decisions are triggered by media reports that may or may not mirror the situation on the ground. In AP, a recent report of a popular media house suggested that, top bureaucrats in the state, fed up with administration under the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government, had applied for central deputation. This led various circles to deduce that Y S Jagan is bound to return and that the Centre-focused bureaucrats are those who do not want to work with him. However, when a reality check was done, it turned out that, contrary to the presumptuous report, nobody had applied for central deputation. Before the powers that be could let this sink in, another media report appeared suggesting that Y S Jagan would not come to power again. This report ran counter to the previous report. A little bird told us that the media reports were concerted.