Harish Khare resigns as media advisor to PM

New Delhi: Harish Khare, Media Advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, resigned on Thursday after serving more than two years in the PMO.

Khare, 65, resigned hours after television journalist Pankaj Pachauri was appointed as Communication Advisor in the PMO to report to Pulok Chatterjee, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister.

Pachauri has been brought in to stem the tide of negative publicity that the government and the PMO has received in recent months, from the CWG scam to the 2G scam.

Khare resigned hours after television journalist Pankaj Pachauri was appointed as Communication Advisor in the PMO.

A former journalist, Khare said that he had sent his resignation to the Prime Minister and thanked him for the opportunity to work under him.

"I want to rediscover the joys of being a reporter," he said, adding he wants to go back to journalism.

Before joining the PMO in June 2009, Khare was senior Associate Editor and Chief of Bureau with The Hindu in New Delhi and earlier Resident Editor of The Times of India in Ahmedabad.

As media advisor, he held the rank of Secretary to the Government of India.

A PMO announcement on Thursday said that Pachauri, who was Managing Editor of NDTV India, would advise the PMO on communications strategies on print, electronic and social media.

Pachauri, 48, had earlier had stints with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in London and with India Today.

(With Additional Inputs from PTI)

(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)