A man for every season: Meet NK Singh, Modi's choice for Finance Commission chief

The appointment of former bureaucrat and Parliamentarian NK Singh as the head of the 15th Finance Commission indicates absence of the Narendra Modi-government's willingness to look beyond a select set of faces. Singh recently also headed a high-profile committee to review the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act.

Apart from the government's generosity towards Singh, what is also obvious is the adaptability of the man in question. From acting as adviser to a top minister in Indira Gandhi's government during the Emergency to securing back to back key appointments under Modi, Singh has come a long way.

His first high-level assignment was as Member, State Secretariat in the Finance Department under Indira Gandhi in 1968. He went on to be appointed as Commerce Secretary (1969) and eventually Special Assistant to Commerce Minister DP Chattopadhyaya in the Emergency era. Chattopadhyaya is believed to have been close to Gandhi's all-powerful son Sanjay Gandhi.

From Indira to Rajiv to VP Singh to Vajpayee

Singh continued to secure key positions in the government under many successive Prime Ministers, including Rajiv Gandhi, VP Singh, Narasimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Significantly, he served as union Revenue Secretary from 1996 to 1998, steering key changes in economic policy in the turbulent era of late 1990s in which as many as three governments failed to complete their full term.

When the turbulence finally settled under Vajpayee in 1998, he became Secretary in the PMO and eventually OSD to the PM. His last high-profile appointment under Vajpayee was as Member of the Planning Commission in 2001, which he continued to hold till 2004.

Singh seamlessly moved on from executive to legislature in 2008, with Janata Dal (United)'s Nitish Kumar welcoming him in the party and sending him to the Rajya Sabha. Singh was close to Kumar for a long time, advising him on a range of key economic issues.

In testimony to his uncanny ability to move between political camps, Singh began an entirely new innings at the ripe age of 76. In 2014, he formally joined the BJP ahead of the general elections, quitting JD(U) after Nitish Kumar ended his alliance with the BJP. While joining, Singh said the focus had now shifted from governance and development to "survival."

Ironically, it was none other than Singh who had reportedly drafted the announcement read out by Kumar while ending the alliance over the BJP's decision to anoint Modi as the prime ministerial candidate.

Many controversies, but none touched him

Singh's name has repeatedly come up in several controversies. The most recent of these was the Radia-tapes case wherein, in a conversation with lobbyist Niira Radia, he could be heard talking about orchestrating a parliamentary debate to benefit Reliance. Singh later admitted the voice was indeed his, but it was a “social informal chat” and it was in wider national interest and not in the interest of any one corporate group.

In 2001, Tehelka did an expose alleging that Singh, as OSD to PM Vajpayee, and Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra, had used their clout to swing the telecom policy in favour of certain players, including Reliance. This is when Singh was moved to the plan panel.

RSS's Swadeshi Jagran Manch was also a staunch critic of Singh throughout, and accused him of cosying up to MNCs.

In 1974, Tulmohan Ram, a Congress leader was indicted in a corruption case pertaining to issuance of licenses from the Foreign Trade ministry. LN Mishra was then the Foreign Trade Minister and Singh his special assistant but the latter survived unscathed.

A family of top bureaucrats & parliamentarians

Singh comes from an illustrious lineage. His father, Sir TP Singh, was an officer of the British-era Indian Civil Services and was the first-ever secretary of the Planning Commission. His mother, Madhuri Singh, was a Member of Parliament, representing Purnia in Lok Sabha in 1980 and again in 1984 as a member of the Congress party.

His brother, Uday Singh, was also an MP and bagged the Purnia seat twice for the BJP, two decades after their mother's tenure. One sister, Shyama Singh, was also an MP, and represented Aurangabad in the Lok Sabha from 1999 to 2004. Her husband, Nikhil Kumar, is also a former MP from Aurangabad and the former governor of Nagaland and Kerala.

Kumar is also a distinguished IPS officer, having served as Commissioner of Delhi Police, Chief of the National Security Guards and chief of Indo-Tibetan Border Police. Singh's swift movement from JD(U) to BJP enabled him to bag the Parliamentarian tag as well, joining several of his illustrious family members.