How Subramanian Swamy's two tweets took some shine off PM Narendra Modi's two years of bureaucratic reforms

Almost two years after the Modi government came to power, it faces a dilemma in its own circles.

A reformist Prime Minister's government which put the bureaucracy into top gear by constantly reviewing the working of high-level officials, breaching the protocol and establishing direct contact with them, picking officers for key jobs on the basis of merit, irrespective of their seniority faces allegations from BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy of appointing officers not fit for their positions.

On June 22, 2016, Swamy tweeted, "Who said to US Cong on 13/3/13 the US should act against India to defend US Pharmaceuticals interests? Arvind Subramanian MoF !! Sack him!!!" .

On June 23, a Twitter user asked for the removal of Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das and Swamy replied that he feels a case is pending against the officer for assisting former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram.

Replying to the tweet, Swamy said: "I think there is a property deal case pending against him for assisting PC swallow Mahabalipuram prime locations."

In both tweets, Swamy took on officers at key positions in an attempt to spoil the image of bureacracy which became PM Narendra Modi's new laboratory of reforms after he quit Gujarat to become head of the BJP government in May 2014.

This was a welcome change after the policy paralysis of UPA II and media was replete with news how top-level government officials cut short their time on other activities and started focusing on work after PM Modi took personal interest in bureaucratic procedures.

Of course, Modi's critics would say this was a stunt by an outspoken PM to achieve political mileage but they should not forget perception is the most important factor in politics.

The demise of propriety due to the callous statements of Swamy has dented the trust of bureaucracy in the government.

According to media reports, bureaucracy has strongly objected to Swamy's statements saying they would affect their motivation at work. Some have even sought the power to retaliate against the statements.

The effective functioning of bureaucracy is a measure of how seriously the government intends to implement its plans on the ground. The damage can't be seen with bare eyes but its imprints will remain in minds of the officers for long.

While the government is yet to rein in its loose cannon Swamy, it would be interesting to see how the events play out in the near future with the Congress even suggesting FM Arun Jaitley is the real target of the Rajya Sabha MP.