Meet Anil Baijal, the man replacing Najeeb Jung as Delhi's L-G

He has served as the non-executive chairman and independent director of IDFC Limited

Najeeb Jung, the outgoing Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, is yet to make public his reasons for quitting. He is also yet to deny reports that he quit because of pressure from the Narendra Modi government that he sends a report to the Ministry of Home Affairs that there is constitutional breakdown in Delhi, which in turn could pave the way for the Centre to recommend President’s Rule in the quasi-state. Former bureaucrat Anil Baijal replaces Jung, and it will be interesting to watch if the 70-year-old becomes as much of an eyesore for the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi.

Baijal is a 1969 batch AGMUT cadre, short for Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory, Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer. He has served in Delhi as a former vice chairman of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA). Baijal, therefore, knows the equation between the Centre and Delhi government like few others, and could be a better candidate to run Delhi Administration.

Baijal was appointed the Home Secretary in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. He was handpicked by Home Minister LK Advani and superseded several officers. He was transferred to the Urban Development Ministry by the subsequent Congress-led UPA government. Here Baijal oversaw the planning and implementation of the Rs 60,000 crore Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

In the last few years, Baijal has been associated with the Vivekananda International Foundation. It is a think tank conceived and set up by several former bureaucrats, the chief of those being current National Security Adviser Ajit Kumar Doval.

During his 37-year career in the bureaucracy, Baijal also had stints as the Chairman and Managing Director of Indian Airlines, Chief Executive Officer of Prasar Bharati Corporation, Development Commissioner of Goa and Counselor incharge of India’s aid programme in Nepal. He has also served as the non-executive chairman and independent director of IDFC Limited.

Baijal headed the committee to suggest measures for improved monitoring of the implementation of corporate social responsibility during the Modi government, which submitted its report in September 2015.

Baijal has a masters’ degree in Arts from Allahabad University. He is said to have known Doval from the time that the latter was a young Intelligence Bureau officer and Baijal was serving one of his first postings in Mizoram.

In 2009, Baijal was the secretary general of the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), which represented private airlines and state-owned Air India. In August of that year, the outfit announced that the private airlines would on strike for a day on August 18. At the press conference, Baijal was flanked on one side by Naresh Goyal of Jet Airways and on the other by Vijay Mallya of Kingfisher. He said the strike was against the high aviation turbine fuel prices and airport taxes. Baijal demanded a bailout.

But the FIA had to withdraw its strike threat when within days’ low cost carriers like IndiGo and SpiceJet said they will not join the strike, as did Air India. Baijal’s role in the entire episode came for question, since he had served as a joint secretary in the civil aviation ministry in 1995 to 98, before becoming the chief of Indian Airlines in 1998-2000.

But Baijal’s sting at Indian Airlines is also credited with the state-owned carrier posting a profit of Rs 79 crore against the budgeted Rs 15 crore. His critics claimed the balance sheet was window dressed, which Baijal had denied. He is also credited with taking important decisions during his stint at Prasar Bharati.

That Baijal is an old hand in Delhi bureaucratic and political circles, and knows the rule book and the ins and outs like the back of his hand, should give the AAP leadership sleepless nights.