The cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday evening was a case study on how to form a potent side having an enviable bench strength with diversity as its key element. As many as 27 OBC (Other Backward Class) leaders made it to the council of ministers, most certainly making it an OBC dominant cabinet. Meanwhile, 20 SC/ST leaders were inducted, out of which 8 walked straight into the cabinet while 12 Dalit leaders took giant strides towards New Delhi, with two making it to the cabinet. 11 women still form a crucial part of PM Modi’s core team.
While caste and gender did play an important part in the composition of the cabinet, the PMO also made sure that talent, experience and qualification were rightfully awarded and given their due recognition.
As a result, Rajya Sabha MP Ashwini Vaishnaw has been given the heavyweight IT and Railway ministry, owing to his stellar resume. The 50-years-old leader is a 1994 batch IAS officer, who has previously worked for the Vajpayee PMO and is well known for his contribution towards the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) framework in the infrastructure sector. He also implemented enterprise resource planning (ERP) software at Goa Port.
When Vajpayee lost his Prime Ministership in the following years, Vaishnaw continued serving him in the capacity of his personal secretary. After serving 15 years as a bureaucrat, Vaishnaw made his debut in the corporate world.
Moreover, as Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (Independent charge), he oversaw the drafting and passing of the Major Port Authorities Bill, 2020 that gives significant autonomy to port trusts and enables them to operate like private players.
While ‘wokes’ laugh at the expense of Mansukh’s English — the minister, unperturbed by the elitism of few has already announced a whopping Rs 23,000 crores health package to battle the upcoming waves of the pandemic.
“Now we know what challenges we faced during the second wave of the pandemic. So in the second phase, we are announcing a package of about ₹23,123 crore keeping the future in mind,” the new health minister said.
The new entries in the cabinet have also been made with an eye on future electoral battles in mind. Wasting no time for 2024 elections and keeping in view of the setback received in the just-concluded assembly polls, four new ministers from West Bengal were included in the cabinet by PM Modi while two erstwhile ministers in the cabinet, Babul Supriyo and Debasree Chaudhuri were shown the door.
Narayan Rane, a heavyweight leader from the Konkan belt of Maharashtra has been included in the cabinet for his ability to bring the important vote bank. As reported by TFI, Narayan Rane, a former Maharashtra CM, is known for his staunch anti-Uddhav Thackeray and anti-Shiv Sena stand. He got nine out of ten MLAs, who had quit the Sena including himself, re-elected in the by-polls and thus, his prowess could not be underestimated. The fate of BMC elections will rest upon his shoulders too.
The Uttar Pradesh assembly elections are scheduled to be held next year. Keeping the politics of the state in mind, Apna Dal leader and MP from Mirzapur Anupriya Patel, Kaushal Kishore, MP from Mohanlalganj seat of Lucknow, Satya Pal Singh Baghel, MP from Agra, Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma, MP from Jalaun, Rajya Sabha MP BL Verma, former Civil Aviation minister Hardeep S Puri, and Pankaj Chaudhary, MP from Maharajganj are the few names from Uttar Pradesh to be inducted in the Council of Ministers.
While many claim that PM Modi surrounds himself with ‘Yes Men’ only, that mirage would certainly have been shattered by the inclusion of Kaushal Kishore. The Mohanlalganj MP had been critical of the Yogi Adityanath government in the covid handling.
Read more: Ex CMs, outsiders and poll bound states: PM Modi proves why he is the smartest politician around
A day after Kishore lost his elder brother to Covid-19 in April, he wrote to CM Adityanath expressing concern over the state of affairs at two government hospitals in Lucknow.
The PM knows that such leaders who time and again present a reality check to the party are as important as the loyalists. People like Kishore would only strengthen the cabinet and diversify it in a truer sense.
The Modi cabinet is one of the most colourful ‘rainbow’ cabinets’ in the history of modern India and with an average age of 58, down from 61 from the previous cabinet, the work output of the government is expected to increase as well.