PMO enjoys more power today than under any previous regime

Although Nehru had lightly staffed secretariat with 1 joint secretary, the structure started changing when Lal Bahadur Shastri took charge

On the evening of November 8, 2016, the sudden buzz in newsrooms was that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was going to make a major announcement. About what? Almost everybody, including many key government functionaries, was kept guessing. 

What followed was one of the world’s largest demonetisation exercises in history. But given the fact that many senior cabinet ministers were unaware of the decision until shortly before it was announced, the announcement highlighted the worst-kept secret about this regime’s PMO: that the prime minister with his 397-member office is the only power centre. As one Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader quipped, “There