Nachiketa Kapur, who is in the eye of controversy following a WikiLeaks expose, is used to wearing many hats and is no stranger to controversies.
Starting as research personnel with the National Security Council in 2004-05 to being a political observer for the US, Nachiketa Kapur has come a long way.
However, what has been constant all along is his ties with top Congress leaders. Also, he has been a regular at American embassy parties flaunting his Congress connections.
US diplomatic cables leaked on WikiLeaks purportedly say that payoffs were made to MPs to ensure majority for the Congress-led government in the confidence vote over the Indo-US nuclear deal 2008. The cables quoted Kapur as saying that a fund of Rs50 crore has been formed to bribe MPs.
In UPA-I, he worked as officer on special duty (OSD) to Renuka Chaudhary when she was a minister of state for tourism holding independent charge. However, he ran out of luck when she was shifted to woman & child development ministry. She sent a letter to the prime minister requesting for his services in the new ministry. As per government rules, the department of personnel ordered a routine inquiry and subsequently rejected his appointment.
He surfaced again in 2009 when Suresh Kalmadi appointed him deputy director general (media & protocol) for the Commonwealth Games. This caused alarm within the corridors of power and the prime minister’s office was flooded with complaints. Soon, Nachiketa was shown the door.
Earlier, he was selected as an observer by the US for the presidential polls. Also, documents, in possession of the DNA, suggest his qualifications too are controversial.
