Ministerial reshuffle in offing; PM Narendra Modi cracks whip

Prime Minister takes ministers to task for missing Parliament sessions

Several of the 72 ministers in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s council of ministers are a rattled lot. 

Modi recently gave them a tongue-lashing, as he did to Members of Parliament. He warned them if they continue missing Parliament sessions, they might find it difficult to get a party ticket for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

As the chief minister of Gujarat, Modi was known to replace nearly a third of his sitting legislators in the run-up to Assembly elections, to beat anti-incumbency. 

More than the MPs, the ministers have taken the warning as gospel, which comes amid anticipation that the PM is set to expand his council, fill vacancies and reshuffle some portfolios.

After the warning, ministers have been careful not to step out of Parliament even for a few minutes during the last week of the monsoon session, which concluded on Friday. The warnings were issued after several of them were absent from the Rajya Sabha on July 31, affording a combined Opposition the opportunity to inflict an embarrassing defeat on the ruling benches when a Bill aimed at giving statutory status to the National Commission for Backward Classes came for voting.

First, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah, and then Modi on Thursday gave the MPs, particularly the ministers, a tongue-lashing. Shah is now a Rajya Sabha member and is likely to keep a sharper eye on MPs and ministers.

“Aap apni marzi ki karte rahiye, mujhe jo karna hai, 2019 mein karoonga. (You do your will and I will do mine in 2019),” a visibly irritated Modi told a meeting of the BJP parliamentary party on Thursday. “Don't blame me later (with regard to 2019),” said the PM, according to those present.

The ministers have decided to follow the diktat, though several of them find it impractical. They are apprehensive they might be dropped or demoted in the impending reshuffle and expansion. Already, there is nervousness among ministers from Bihar that they might be dropped. The BJP aligning with the Janata Dal (United) makes some of them redundant.

The Cabinet reshuffle could take place after August 19, when the Janata Dal (United) passes a resolution at its national executive meeting in Patna to officially join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. BJP leaders do not rule out the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) joining the NDA, if its two factions were to merge. On Friday, the PM asked Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to come to Delhi in the last week of August to meet him with documents relating to the central assistance the state needs.

However, beyond the ministerial expansion and the need to fill vacancies and induct better talent, the PM’s instructions have meant ministers have to operate out of their chambers in Parliament. Each minister is given an office in there. However, these are smaller compared to ministerial offices in the headquarters, and obviously cannot accommodate the bureaucracy. Ministers find it easier to sit in their ministries. During Parliament sessions, they are known to sneak out to ministries, or even to address events in and outside Delhi. All of this might be a thing of the past. 

“Yes, it is inconvenient to operate out of the Parliament. But, such are the instructions, and I have every intent to follow the instructions,” a Cabinet minister said.

The PM’s instructions have also been relayed to NDA allies. A Cabinet minister who leads an ally party of the BJP from a north Indian state has taken to describing the PM’s directive as a “three-line whip”. “One-line whip means I have to be present in Parliament premises. Two-line whip would mean I should be in the Central Hall, and a three-line whip that I should be sitting in the House,” the minister said. 

Ministers have been asked to bring their work to Parliament, and ask officials also to troop down to Parliament to get files signed. Ministers have also been asked to hold formal interactions with media persons in Parliament when a session is on.