opinion | Political message behind Modi’s mega cabinet reshuffle
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday carried out a mega cabinet reshuffle by inducting 36 new ministers, promoting seven ministers of state and removing 12 ministers including Ravi Shankar Prasad, Dr Harsh Vardhan, Ramesh Pokhriyal, Sadananda Gowda and Prakash Javadekar.
Till late Wednesday, when the official announcement of the departments was made, major changes were made in the ministries of Railways, Information and Broadcasting, Health, Law, IT and Communications, Textiles, Rural Development and Civil Aviation. To promote the cooperative movement, for the first time, a new Ministry of Cooperation was formed under the leadership of Home Minister Amit Shah. Similarly, the chemical and fertilizer portfolio has now been clubbed with health.
This is a complete change in the composition of the Union Council of Ministers and has taken effect for the first time in a big way since Modi’s first government was formed in 2014.
The first political message from this major reshuffle is social inclusion and regional imbalance. For the first time in independent India, a woman minister was included from the small state of Tripura. For the first time at the Centre, 27 ministers are from Other Backward Classes (OBC), of whom five are cabinet ministers. Twenty SC/ST ministers have been inducted, out of which five are of cabinet rank. Of the 12 SC ministers, two are of cabinet rank, and three of the eight tribal ministers are of cabinet rank.
Several castes which were never part of any Union Cabinet earlier have been given representation. While selecting the ministers, Modi took into account caste, qualification, experience, regional balance and political equation in the states. In short, many castes, communities and states now get representation in the Union Council of Ministers. In addition, the average age of ministers in the Modi cabinet has now come down to 58 years. Now there are 14 ministers below 50 years of age. Similarly, there are now 11 women ministers, two of whom are of cabinet rank.
In terms of qualifications and professional qualifications, there are now 13 lawyers, six doctors, five engineers, seven former civil servants, seven PhD holders and three MBA degree holders who are now ministers at the Centre. In terms of political experience, there are three former chief ministers and 18 former ministers of state who are now part of Modi’s cabinet. There are 33 ministers who have won the Lok Sabha elections thrice.
Looking at the list of ministers who took oath on Wednesday, it appears to be a perfect combination of upper and backward castes, dalits, tribals, regions and genders. To emphasize my point, I would like to tackle a few different names one by one. Dr Virendra Kumar is a Dalit (Khatik by caste) MP from Tikamgarh, Madhya Pradesh. He was the Minister of State in the Modi cabinet from 2016 to 2019, but you will be surprised to know, he won the Lok Sabha elections seven times, but decided to always keep a low profile. On Wednesday, he was made the Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment.
The second is Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma, a Dalit (by caste Koeri) MP from Jalaun in Uttar Pradesh. He won the Lok Sabha elections five times, but always maintained a low profile. On Wednesday, he was made MoS in the Ministry of MSME.
Third, Kaushal Kishor is an MP (Pasi by caste) from Mohanlalganj in Uttar Pradesh. He won the Lok Sabha elections twice and was a minister in UP in the past. A few months ago, he wrote a letter to Modi pointing out the mismanagement of hospitals at the district level. His detractors had questioned why he sent a complaint to the PM. By appointing him as the MoS in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Modi has sent out the message that he values those who have the courage to tell if any wrongdoing is being done.
Fourth is Ram Chandra Pratap Singh, RCP Singh in short, Kurmi by caste. He is the chief of the Bihar unit of Janata Dal (United) and a close confidante of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. A retired IAS officer of 1984 batch, he possesses both administrative and political skills. On Wednesday, Modi made him the Union Steel Minister.
The fifth man Pankaj Choudhary, an OBC Kurmi by caste, is a five-time winner from Maharajganj in Uttar Pradesh, but always maintains a low profile. On Wednesday, he was made MoS in the Finance Ministry.
Similarly, BL Verma is a Lodh caste (the caste from which Kalyan Singh and Uma Bharti belong), Anupriya Patel is an OBC Kurmi by caste, and SP Singh Baghel is a Dalit Dhankar caste, where people live in herds of goats and sheep. . BL Verma was made MoS in the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DONER) and Ministry of Cooperation, Anupriya Patel was made MoS in Commerce and Industry, and SP Singh Baghel was made MoS in the Ministry of Law and Justice.
Much research and background checks were done by Prime Minister Modi before selecting his new team. Now, about the people who have been rewarded for their work. First, Jyotiraditya Scindia, former core team member of Congress Rahul Gandhi, quit the party in March last year, toppled Chief Minister Kamal Nath’s government when his loyal MLAs joined the BJP, and helped bring Shivraj Singh Chouhan back to power. helped. He was promised a cabinet portfolio at the Centre, but the Covid pandemic intervened, and he had to wait for over a year. On Wednesday, Modi made Scindia the Civil Aviation Minister.
Narayan Rane, a former Shiv Sainik and former Chief Minister of Maharashtra, is a strongman of the Konkan region. He left the Congress and merged his local party with the BJP and since then he has been waiting. A seasoned and cunning politician, he has the habit of reading straws in the air, he was the leader of the opposition in his state for six years. On Wednesday, he was made the Union Minister of MSME. Modi plans to use his political skills to counter the political challenge posed by the Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra.
Another former CM in Modi’s cabinet is Sarbananda Sonowal, who hails from the Kachari tribal community of Assam. When Hemant Biswa Sarma was made the Chief Minister of Assam after a second landslide BJP victory, Sonowal decided to come to the Centre. He has now been made the Union Minister for Ports, Shipping, Waterways and AYUSH.
With the UP assembly elections due next year, seven ministers from that state have been inducted, while five ministers from Gujarat have been given a place at the Centre. The Patidar community of Gujarat has been given representation by making Purushottam Rupala and Mansukh Mandaviya cabinet ministers. Three others from Gujarat OBCs, Darshan Jardosh (Minister of State for Railways and Textiles), Devusinh Chauhan (Minister of State for Communications), and Dr. Mahendra Munjapara (Minister of State for AYUSH and Women and Child Development) have been appointed.
Modi has also taken care of those people who have been quietly working for the party organization for the last seven years without demanding any department. Among them is the party’s active leader Bhupendra Yadav, who has been made a cabinet minister. He will look after both the labor and environment departments.
The Prime Minister has given great importance to merit by appointing Ashwini Vaishnav, a former IAS officer from Odisha, as the new Railway Minister. He will also look after Electronics and Information Technology and Communications with Cabinet rank. Vaishnav is an IIT engineer who did his MBA from the University of Pennsylvania, and was the District Collector of Cuttack and Balasore while working in the IAS.
The most surprising inclusion was that of Shantanu Thakur, 38, Lok Sabha MP from Bangaon in West Bengal. He belongs to the powerful Matua community which has presence in 70 assembly constituencies. On Wednesday, he was made Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
Modi also rewarded seven ministers of state by promoting them to cabinet rank. These include: Kiren Rijiju, who has now been made the Union Minister of Law and Justice, RK Singh, who has been elevated as the Union Minister of Energy, Hardeep Singh Puri, who has been made to look after Petroleum and Natural Gas, Housing and Urban Cabinet rank has been given. Affairs, Mansukh Mandaviya, Health, Family Welfare and Chemicals and Fertilizers, Purushottam Rupala, Fisheries and Animal Husbandry, G Kishan Reddy, Culture, Tourism and Donor, and Anurag Thakur, who will be the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Sports and Youth Affairs.
Anurag Thakur, Kiren Rijiju, Mansukh Mandaviya and G Kishan Reddy are ministers who are young but have gained administrative skills while working as state ministers. When Modi and his top confidant were preparing the list of new ministers, they gave a lot of importance to the ministers who have done well over the years.
Modi has given him a great opportunity to prove himself to the younger generation by elevating him in the cabinet rank, and on the other hand, he has decided to groom a strong second level leadership who has administrative acumen. Most of the seasoned politicians in his cabinet are now old, and Modi, along with others in the party command, has realized the need.
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