<p> The NDA government has managed to remove legal obstacles in appointing Nripendra Misra as Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister after Parliament gave its approval to a legal amendment for validating his appointment on Tuesday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The Rajya Sabha passed the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Amendment) Bill 2014, paving the way for the finalisation of the principal secretary’s appointment.<br /><br />While securing a nod from the Upper House, the government managed to win over almost all political parties except Congress, Left and JD(U). With 57 members, the ruling NDA is a minority in the 243 member Rajya Sabha and require helping hands from other parties.<br /><br />The amendment was necessary because as per the existing legislation, Misra – a former chairman of Trai – could not be reappointed in the government. Within days of becoming the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi picked the 1967 batch Indian Administrative Officer as his Principal Secretary. But because of a legal bottleneck, an ordinance was promulgated on May 28, to clear Misra’s move to the PMO.<br /><br />The amendment passed by both Houses of the Parliament will replace the ordinance. Lok Sabha cleared the legislation on Monday.<br /><br />Similar to the Lok Sabha experience, the surprise supporter of the bill was Trinamool Congress, whose leader Derek O'Brien said, “We are constructive opposition and a destructive one. The Prime Minister wants him for three reasons – number one is good governance, number two is good governance and number three is good governance.”</p>
<p> The NDA government has managed to remove legal obstacles in appointing Nripendra Misra as Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister after Parliament gave its approval to a legal amendment for validating his appointment on Tuesday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The Rajya Sabha passed the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Amendment) Bill 2014, paving the way for the finalisation of the principal secretary’s appointment.<br /><br />While securing a nod from the Upper House, the government managed to win over almost all political parties except Congress, Left and JD(U). With 57 members, the ruling NDA is a minority in the 243 member Rajya Sabha and require helping hands from other parties.<br /><br />The amendment was necessary because as per the existing legislation, Misra – a former chairman of Trai – could not be reappointed in the government. Within days of becoming the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi picked the 1967 batch Indian Administrative Officer as his Principal Secretary. But because of a legal bottleneck, an ordinance was promulgated on May 28, to clear Misra’s move to the PMO.<br /><br />The amendment passed by both Houses of the Parliament will replace the ordinance. Lok Sabha cleared the legislation on Monday.<br /><br />Similar to the Lok Sabha experience, the surprise supporter of the bill was Trinamool Congress, whose leader Derek O'Brien said, “We are constructive opposition and a destructive one. The Prime Minister wants him for three reasons – number one is good governance, number two is good governance and number three is good governance.”</p>
