Union home minister P Chidambaram has perfected the art of acting first and thinking later in his dealings with the state governments. It happened in the case of national counter terrorism centre (NCTC). A loud protest from close to a dozen states forced him to backtrack. It is happening again with Delhi and Goa loudly protesting against reshuffle of IAS and IPS without prior notice or consultations.

He and his ministry may have followed the rule. There are cases of officers overstaying their deputation by pulling political strings. But then these facts could have been brought to the notice of the states. After all, running the state administration is the responsibility of the respective governments. But the minister and his officials chose to drop the reshuffle bombs instead.

Precisely that is what was happening in the ministry today as its officials remained huddled together in a series of meetings right from the morning, figuring out how to get out of the mess created by their unthinking boss.

Yesterday, Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit met Chidambaram, registered her protest and then shared her anguish with the media. “Earlier the home ministry would consult us. But now…senior officials handling important portfolios…are proposed to be transferred without any interface with us. I have made my discontent known to the home minister,” she said.

She was upset because after 27 officers were transferred out of Delhi in recent months a further order transferring a few more has been received. When five of her senior officers are about to retire soon and she has to be ready for the 2013 elections, it is natural that she is miffed. Why couldn’t the home minister have sounded her out or consulted her?

Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar was so angry with a similar order of “unilateral” transfer and posting of IPS officers that he demanded an apology from Chidambaram and refused to accept the appointment of officers in the state. “The union home ministry should apologise to me because they have started unilaterally appointing IPS officers in Goa,” he declared.

Following the rule of law is a commendable job, except that the home minister should be aware of the states’ sensibilities and the need to be told and consulted in matters that directly affect their administration.