I hope you do not mind my writing you an open letter, an idea that struck me during your speech and the subsequent bedlam during the parliamentary debate on the civil nuclear agreement. Your speech gave hope. Your opening statement, that you spoke not as a member of a political party but as an Indian; your implicit message that ‘energy security’ was not about international agreements, individual egos and fine words but about the fundamentals of human well-being; your emphasis on the importance of reliable, clean and affordable energy for a life of dignity and quality — were hopeful signs that the debate would rise above partisan politics and be set against the backdrop of national interest.

But that was not to be. The unseemly sight of raving parliamentarians and wads of cash put paid to any such hope. It became clear (if such clarity were needed) that Indian politics had become too conflictual for a subject like energy security to be discussed with dispassion and reason in the halls of parliament. It also became clear that there were many who shared your sentiment but who, either because of loyalty to the party whip or lack of opportunity, did not or could not make public their views. Omar Abdullah was their eloquent spokesman.

The trigger for this ‘letter’ was this clarity. It sparked the thought that one of perhaps several other initiatives required to accelerate the drive towards energy security was to find an ‘energy champion’ — an individual of influence and public spirit; a person whose standing cut across political groups; a leader whose vision stretched beyond the electoral cycle — and for that champion to create an ‘extra parliamentary forum’ through which to mobilise public opinion and forge a parliamentary consensus on the way ahead. I decided to write to you to be that champion; to pull together a group of like minded individuals of renown, integrity and expertise from across the political spectrum, business, academics, bureaucracy and NGOs — the key stakeholders of our society; to make in effect, energy security your single point — ‘a political’ priority. I realise, of course, that such a group cannot substitute for the executive or circumvent the legislature. But it can hold up a mirror to them and endeavour to ensure that energy security is not ensnared by short-termism, vested interests and the electoral cycle. It can be the energy ombudsman of the country.

... contd.