Keeping elections in mind, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today reshuffled his council of ministers, rewarding performance and punishing inefficiency, while also making concessions for politics.
Uttar Pradesh goes to polls early next year. Accordingly, Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma has been elevated from independent charge to the cabinet rank and Rajeev Shukla has been appointed minister of state for parliamentary affairs. Salman Khurshid has been given charge of law and justice and additional charge of minority affairs from water resources, which has gone to Parliamentary Affairs Minister P K Bansal as an additional charge.
Circumventing the Telangana-Andhra Pradesh divide, the prime minister has appointed Kishore Chandra Deo, an MP from Andhra Pradesh, as minister for tribal affairs and panchayati raj.
| NEW PORTFOLIOS AFTER THE RESHUFFLE |
| CABINET RANK |
| V Kishore Chandra Deo: Tribal Affairs and Panchayati Raj |
| Beni Prasad Verma: Steel |
| Dinesh Trivedi: Railways |
| Jairam Ramesh: Rural Development |
| Vilasrao Deshmukh: Science and Technology and Earth Sciences |
| M Veerappa Moily: Corporate Affairs |
| Anand Sharma: Commerce and Industry and additional charge of Textiles |
| P K Bansal: Parliamentary Affairs and additional charge of Water Resources |
| Salman Khurshid: Law and Justice and additional charge of Minority Affairs |
Deo has not hidden his bias for Telangana but is said to be opposed to some of the tactics adopted by the activists. He has been made a cabinet minister. He has been out in the cold in the last seven years of the United Progressive Alliance government and is known to be an intelligent and thoughtful politician who has chaired several parliamentary committees. The other two states set to go to polls are Punjab and Uttarakhand. Punjab has been overlooked but Harish Rawat of Uttarakhand has seen a change in portfolio. He is now minister of state for agriculture and food processing industries as well as parliamentary affairs.
In terms of performance, ministers known to court controversy have been moved. Jairam Ramesh has got cabinet rank, which is a promotion, but has been moved from environment to rural development. Jayanthi Natarajan, a lawyer by training and considered an efficient spokesperson, has been given Ramesh’s portfolio. Veerappa Moily has been moved from law to corporate affairs, where he replaces Murli Deora, who has offered to resign following the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report on costs related to Reliance Industries’ KG basin fields. Moily faced one challenge after another in the law ministry, beginning with the Lok Pal Bill and culminating with the Solicitor General’s resignation. He is thought to have acquitted himself less than efficiently. Interestingly, Human Resource Development and Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal continues with his double-barrel charge. So does Vayalar Ravi, who remains in charge of civil aviation and non-resident Indian affairs.
The compulsions of alliance politics dictated the appointment of Trinamool Congress’ Dinesh Trivedi as railway minister. Sudeep Bandopadhyaya has got the position Trivedi was holding, that is, minister of state for health. Trinamool’s Mukul Roy has been packed off to the shipping ministry from railways.
However, what the government has not done is as interesting as what it has — which is to resist the pressure of Lalu Prasad-led Rashtriya Janata Dal. Though Prasad met Sonia Gandhi in the run-up to the reshuffle, his claims have been ignored.
In Chennai, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader M Karunanidhi said he made no demands on the Centre, whose emissary Pranab Mukherjee had called on Karunanidhi days before the reshuffle. Karunanidhi’s statement implied he was taking a rain cheque on DMK’s claims to cabinet berths.
Among all power centres in the Congress, it is clear that the camp led by Rahul Gandhi has gained significantly. Already shored up by the presence of a large number of young MPs — Sachin Pilot and Jitin Prasada, for instance — this reshuffle saw several Rahul Gandhi acolytes rise up the ladder. Milind Deora and Jitendra Singh are both young Congressmen. Jairam Ramesh is a Rahul Gandhi advisor, as is Salman Khurshid. Although Kapil Sibal is seen squarely as the prime minister’s nominee, he has been often seen at Rahul Gandhi’s Tughlaq Road residence. Left to herself, Sonia Gandhi may have accommodated Lalu Prasad, but Rahul Gandhi is known to have strong feelings about reinstating Prasad in any form.
Five cabinet ministers, Dayanidhi Maran, M S Gill, Murli Deora, B K Handique and Kanti Lal Bhuria, have been dropped. Ministers of state A Sai Prathap and Arun S Yadav have also been dropped.
Vilasrao Deshmukh has been shifted to science and technology and earth sciences.
Congress chief whip Paban Singh Ghatowar has been inducted as a minister of state with independent charge. Charan Das Mahant has made his debut as minister of state for food processing and agriculture.
