It was hardly a routine cabinet reshuffle.
The reshuffle coming almost in the middle of the term was essentially a reset
of the government in the run up to the elections of 2024. It was equally about
those were dropped as much as it was about those who were inducted or promoted.
At one level, it is a step towards elimination of independent charges being
handed to ministers of state. At the same time it was about the performance being
the absolute parameter with reputations hardly counting anything. It would not
save some senior figures while it would induct quite a number of relatively
young parliamentarians perhaps giving them a chance to prove themselves. There were
some losers and few gainers as usual but the unmistakable signs of PM’s
footprint was visible throughout. There appeared to be strong homework with
respect to the competencies and the castes. The ministry was not about
competency alone but an integration of the same with the caste and regions. In other
words every region and caste would have something to cheer about. It was about
a signal to the allies and the prospective allies and the opposition alike. If JD-U
or Apna Dal have to climb down from their earlier hardcore stance, it was
equally about sending signals to estranged allies like Shiv Sena or Akalis that
they might no longer be welcome. In choosing a 77 member ministry, it is
evident that hardly any space exists for expansion.
At the outset, it would be perhaps
bad for Harshvardhan who had to take the blame for the second wave of the
Chinese pandemic. The heads had to roll and it was Harshvardhan despite his
very good handling of the first wave. The fact that Sadananda Gowda had to quit
also had to do with the aftereffects of the second wave with serious shortages
of medicines all over. It is different matter that Gowda had Damocle’s sword
hanging over him since 2014 when he faced often the routine downgrading of his
portfolios. It is different matter that his junior Mansukh Mandaviya has been
elevated to take charge of both Health and Chemical and Fertilizers. Ramesh
Pokhriyal had to go on health reasons though he had done some good work in the
New Education Policy. A few junior ministers were expectedly asked to leave.
Santosh Gangwar’s exit might be little puzzling but age might be against him. The
decisions on Bengal were expected given the poor performance in the state
elections.
Yet what turned out to be the story
of the day was the dropping of senior ministers like Ravi Shankar Prasad and
Prakash Javadekar. The social media vibes might have gone against them yet they
would be merely one factor in the decision. To Prasad, the Twitter fiasco might
have gone against him despite his relative success in law ministry. The assertion
of judiciary yet again also seems to have gone against him. To Javadekar, it
was his failure as I&B Minister in government communication in the second
wave that might have sealed his fate. His work in the environment ministry
might not have been strong enough to compensate for his shortcomings in I&B
Ministry. The signal however is strong enough that no minister however senior
he or she might be can take their place for granted.
There have been new inductions. At one
level, Modi might have fallen back on Gujarat as evident in the case of the
Health Ministry. Hardeep Puri has been suitably rewarded. The glamour lies in
the railways were a technocrat in Ashwini Vaishnav having been given the
charge. To Vaishnav, there is the additional charge of the IT and
Communications. Dharmendra Pradhan goes into education, a sort of promotion
despite his failure in containing oil prices, something now being in the domain
of Hardeep Puri. It will require the diplomatic finesse of Puri to negotiate
with his Arab interlocutors. Piyush Goyal has Railways taken away from him but
handed over Textiles. Smriti Irani is left with Women and Child Development. Though
it might sound unpopular, there is somewhere a signal, her administrative
skills are not top notch and therefore she is been offered or continued with
lesser known portfolios.
Narayan Rane’s induction was no
surprise given his power base as also BJP’s desire to expand aggressively into
the Konkan. Jyotiraditya Scindia was rewarded, a compensation for his efforts
to dislodge the Congress government in MP in 2020. Sarbananda Sonowal was
inducted something expected after he relinquished his CM-ship to Himanta Biswa
Sarma a couple of months ago. There have been four inductions in Bengal and one
would wait and watch their performance and the impact it has on Bengal
electoral fortunes. Tripura gets its first minister at the Centre while Manipur
makes it appearance after around 20 years. Kiren Rijuju becomes the only second
from the North East (excluding Assam) to become a Cabinet rank Minister after
PA Sangma. Bhupendra Yadav gets rewarded after his good work in the party. There
are a few who get into the ministry after being parliamentarians for a fairly
long time.
There has been an attempt to reinvigorate
certain ministries like skill development. These are basically lackluster shows
but have a potential of being game changers. One would wait and see how this
would turn out. The fact that Narendra Tomar is retained in Agriculture
demonstrates the PM’s faith in him the view of farmer protests over the last
few months. There is a task of privatization in different streams of railways.
Similarly there is a task of reforms and privatization in ports and shipping. There
is a need to revitalize the small and the medium sector. The labour reforms
have to be notified and brought into force. There is question of India’s
recovery as one begins to build life afresh after the second wave while the
sword of the third wave is hanging all over the heads. Therefore the task of
the Health Ministry becomes even more critical. There is also the necessity of
reviving industries and thus it too poses a challenge. The bigger ministries
have remained untouched however, there would be greater expectations as many
challenges have to be counter-acted with. On the whole, it has been a good
exercise but the work has just begun.
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