It is beyond one's comprehension as to what compelled the newly appointed Prime Minister Narendra Modi to assign additional charge of the critical defence ministry to Arun Jaitley, who has deservedly been given the finance portfolio. Both ministries by their nature, scope and sphere of responsibilities would demand an exclusive Cabinet minister, besides a small number of ministers of state, as has been the practice so far. One wonders whether it is a tacit admission that despite overwhelming numbers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members in Parliament, no one else could inspire confidence in the mind of the prime minister about his or her suitability for being made the country's defence minister. If this is indeed so, it should be a matter of serious concern since it raises a question on the competence of the elected members of Parliament.
Similarly, clubbing certain unconnected ministries such as law with telecom also looks odd. Some states have gone totally unrepresented in the Cabinet - states like West Bengal did send candidates to the Lok Sabha and that too senior ones such as S S Ahluwalia from Darjeeling. The newly appointed Cabinet, therefore, falls short of meeting the regional aspirations, a hallmark of parliamentary democracy. Modi and his advisors could have certainly done a better job in making the council of ministers more representative.
S K Choudhury, Bangalore
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