PK Sinha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Principal Adviser, has resigned, citing “personal reasons,” according to reports. For 18 months, the former Cabinet Secretary worked for the Prime Minister’s Office.
The resignation of one of the Prime Minister’s most trusted advisors has raised eyebrows amid the lack of more information. In order to accommodate Mr. Sinha in the Prime Minister’s Office in 2019, the role of Principal Adviser to the PM was established. The appointment order stated that his term as PM Modi’s Principal Adviser would run concurrently with the Prime Minister’s term.
Mr. Sinha, one of the government’s most senior administrators served as Cabinet Secretary for over four years, with three extensions. The officer was a member of the Uttar Pradesh cadre of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1977.
He served as Cabinet Secretary during PM Modi’s first term. When he retired in 2019, the year PM Modi reclaimed power, he was assigned to the Prime Minister’s Office as an Officer on Special Duty.
Mr. Sinha was appointed Principal Advisor after Nripendra Misra, another top bureaucrat, quit PM Modi’s office.
However, despite the development of a post for Mr. Sinha, he had been operating without any official position, in contrast to his colleagues PK Mishra and Ajit Doval, who were both granted cabinet rank.
Mr. Sinha previously worked as a Secretary in three Union ministries during the Congress-led UPA’s tenure in office.
Mr. Sinha was in charge of all policy matters in the PMO, as well as subjects that were not delegated to Mr. Mishra or Ajit Doval.
Highlights of Sinha’s career during the Modi administration
Prior to 2014, Sinha had no prior experience dealing with Prime Minister Modi during his tenure as Chief Minister of Gujarat. Sinha was in charge of three main ministries during the UPA’s 10-year tenure, but the Modi government held him as power secretary for more than a year after it took power in 2014.
Under Sinha’s leadership, the power ministry added a record 22,566 MW of capacity during the first year of the Modi administration, as well as the highest-ever growth in transmission line and substation capacity.
