The BJP government has realised, in a year of governance, that the bureaucracy can make or destroy its fate. And when it learned that babus aren’t those hapless corporate employees who fall in line quickly because of disciplinary action, the Devendra Fadnavis government decided to take the gloves off. But babus don’t like losing to politicians, who are equally adamant on having their way. The relations between political executives and bureaucrats are in for a dramatic turn.

What started as a minor tussle between ministers and babus may soon become a raging war, thanks to the food and civil supplies and consumer protection minister Girish Bapat and his department secretary Deepak Kapoor, a senior IAS officer.