Modi’s Rejig: Best Foot Forward Towards Mission 350

By K. Ramachandra Murthy

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has this time opted for better governance than being politically right. While the earlier Cabinet expansions took into consideration the electoral, regional and political factors in selecting the new ministers, the criterion in choosing the latest faces was solely improving administrative efficiency of the government. The caste was not at all a factor in the selection. For instance, there were more Brahmins than the caste calculations permit.

In a way, it is a setback for AP Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu, who was looking forward to watching his friend Kambhampati Haribabu, the MP from Vishakhapatnam, to be sworn in.

The ministers who took oath on Sunday at Rashtrapati Bhavan were known to be experts in their own domains in which there have been working with missionary zeal. The four Ministers of State who were promoted to the Cabinet rank are truly outstanding in their performance during the last three years. There is not a single reason to disapprove of the very thoughtful exercise. One can only say, “Well done Modi…and Shah”. After Kamaraj Nadar got his plan to drop several important ministers, in the name of serving the party, some 54 years ago, it is Amit Shah who was completely involved in the selection of ministers, of course, with the express approval of the prime minister.

Dharmendra Pradhan, MoS in charge of Petroleum and Gas, Piyush Vedprakash Goel, MoS handling Power and Coal, Nirmala Sitaraman, MoS looking after Commerce and Industry and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, MoS taking care of Minority Affairs, richly deserve the elevation they got. It is a matter of a virtue when a leader promotes hardworking and diligent ministers on consideration of merit rather than other obscure reasons. Nirmala, born in Tamil Nadu, married in AP and elected to Rajya Sabha from Karnataka ideally represents South India in the cabinet replacing Venkaiah Naidu who was born in AP and got elected to RS thrice from Karnataka having close relations with Tamil Nadu politicians. Ministers from Karnataka cannot be called representatives of South India as their sphere of activity is largely confined to their native State.

If one looks at the way the new ministers were selected, a method can be discerned. Most of them are not just routine politicians or MPs but are specialized in one area or the other. For instance, Shiv Pratap Shukla, the Brahmin face of UP, is an expert in education matters since he worked as an education minister in UP. He is a Rajya Sabha Member. Ashwini Kumar Chowbe, another Brahmin, who hails from Bihar but got elected from UP has worked for Swachh Bharat taking forward the theme of having more toilets for girls.

Dr Virendra Kumar Singh, a 6-time Lok Sabha Member from Tikamgarh in MP is a labour welfare specialist. Ananta Kumar Hegde is a 5-time Lok Sabha Member from Karnataka and is a known expert on rural affairs. He has also been running an NGO. Raj Kumar Singh, former Secretary of Union Home Ministry and an IPS is an expert in police modernization. He is a Thakur. Hardeep Singh Puri is a retired IFS officer who was a career diplomat. He hails from Punjab where the Akali Siromani Dal and the BJP were handed over a stunning defeat by the Amarinder Singh-led Congress in the Assembly elections held earlier this year. Puri is an expert in foreign trade negotiations and diplomacy.

Gajendra Singh Shekhawat is from Rajasthan representing Jodhpur in Lok Sabha. A Basket Ball lover and administrator, Sekhawat is an expert in rural development. Dr Satyapal Singh is a former IPS officer who excelled as Police Commissioner of Mumbai and Pune. He is a Jat elected to Lok Sabha from Baghpat in the Jat-dominated Western UP. The ninth minister to be sworn in as Minister of State, Alphons Kannenthanam, nicknamed bulldozer, is known as demolition man of Delhi. He got about 15,000 illegal buildings demolished. He is also a former IAS officer known for his efficiency and boldness.

The stamp of the RSS is there on the third expansion of Modi’s Cabinet. The no-nonsense method in which the new ministers were selected reflects the RSS philosophy of meritocracy, honouring talent. But for the blessings of Mohan Bhagawat, the RSS chief, two or three experts in rural development would not have been picked up. Rural development and agriculture require ministers who have passion for working for the welfare of the rural people. There are at least two ministers, Chowbey and Virendra Kumar Singh, who went to jail during the Emergency. There are two former IAS officers (RK Singh and Alphons), one IPS (Dr Satyapal Singh) and one IFS (Puri) adding the much needed talent and resourcefulness to the ministry. Hardeep and Alphons are not members of either Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha. They have got to be brought to the RS through Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. There is a vacancy in MP due to the death of a minister at the centre, Anil Madhav Dave, and the vacancy in Rajasthan is on account of resignation of Venkaiah Naidu on being elected as the Vice-President of India.

That the representation of the States also was not the primary consideration this time war very clear. Take into account the absence of any member from Himachal Pradesh which is scheduled to go to polls later this year. That JD(U) and Shiv Sena opted to boycott the swearing-in ceremony speaks volumes about the pulls and pressures the prime minister faces from regional satraps.

Nitish Kumar, Bihar Chief Minister, who earlier ditched RJD and the Congress by walking out of the Grand Alliance and joining hands with the NDA, was shown his place by the BJP leadership. Nitish was rather too smart. The Shiv Sena also did not get the respect it expected in spite of its loud mouth. In a way, it is a setback for AP Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu, who was looking forward to watching his friend Kambhampati Haribabu, the MP from Vishakhapatnam, to be sworn in.

Naidu was disappointed when Hari Babu’s name was not found in the final list of nine. It is a raw deal for both the Telugu States and Venkaiah Naidu’s place in the Cabinet was left unfilled and Bandaru Dattatreya, who hails from Secunderabad in Telangana, was mercilessly dropped from the ministry and nobody was given his place.

Three names-Kishen Reddy, P Muralidhar Rao and Vedire Sriram Reddy - were doing the rounds till Saturday evening. But none of them was selected. Even if the sole consideration is merit, Sriram, who is an expert in water management and who has been doing an outstanding job in Rajasthan as the chief minister’s advisor for water resources development, should have got the call. But the limitation of not having more than two vacancies in Rajaya Sabha at the present from the States where the BJP has strength must have gone against him.

Mission 350, the campaign for securing 350 LS seats in 2019 elections would be possible only if the BJP dispensation delivers on the numerous and tall promises made by Narendra Modi in his whirlwind campaign during 2014 elections. This is best foot forward towards achieving that goal.