FOR a government that is in the dock over a spate of corruption scandals and runaway inflation, the reshuffle of the Union council of ministers on Wednesday is utterly uninspiring especially if it was intended to restore public confidence. There is an undercurrent of expression of disenchantment over the running of certain ministries but by not showing such ministers the door and merely reshuffling their portfolios Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has sent out a weak message. There is evidently a conscious effort not to ruffle feathers with elections to some states being round the corner. However, the Prime Minister’s assertion that this is a ‘minor reshuffle’ and his hint of a more ‘expansive exercise’after the budget rekindles hopes that a more significant exercise may be in the offing and that the non-performing ministers are under scrutiny. Evidently, the claims of some allies for greater representation and the need to induct some young ministers would find expression in the next reshuffle.
The eye on elections is clear from the preferential treatment given to UP and Kerala. While UP’s Salman Khursheed and Sriprakash Jaiswal have been elevated to Cabinet rank and Beni Prasad Verma inducted, in Kerala K V Thomas and K C Venugopal have been accommodated while Vyalar Ravi has got the high-profile civil aviation ministry albeit temporarily. The snub to M.S. Gill (he was in the thick of controversy during the Commonwealth Games for his role as sports minister) by shifting him to planning and statistics, a ministry that was with a minister of state earlier, is palpable. In a hint that ‘croney capitalism’ is frowned upon, Praful Patel, a great votary of the private sector, has now the task of overseeing the working of the public sector enterprises as Heavy Industries Minister while Murli Deora who was believed to be too close to a leading corporate house has been divested of Petroleum and given corporate affairs instead. In the change of Kamal Nath’s portfolio too there is an underlying message. But how effectively such subtle messages would work is, however, anybody’s guess.
All in all, the much-awaited reshuffle which was in the air for five months, has flattered to deceive. It is imperative that the next reshuffle reflects the reality that the UPA needs to pull up its socks.
The eye on elections is clear from the preferential treatment given to UP and Kerala. While UP’s Salman Khursheed and Sriprakash Jaiswal have been elevated to Cabinet rank and Beni Prasad Verma inducted, in Kerala K V Thomas and K C Venugopal have been accommodated while Vyalar Ravi has got the high-profile civil aviation ministry albeit temporarily. The snub to M.S. Gill (he was in the thick of controversy during the Commonwealth Games for his role as sports minister) by shifting him to planning and statistics, a ministry that was with a minister of state earlier, is palpable. In a hint that ‘croney capitalism’ is frowned upon, Praful Patel, a great votary of the private sector, has now the task of overseeing the working of the public sector enterprises as Heavy Industries Minister while Murli Deora who was believed to be too close to a leading corporate house has been divested of Petroleum and given corporate affairs instead. In the change of Kamal Nath’s portfolio too there is an underlying message. But how effectively such subtle messages would work is, however, anybody’s guess.
All in all, the much-awaited reshuffle which was in the air for five months, has flattered to deceive. It is imperative that the next reshuffle reflects the reality that the UPA needs to pull up its socks.
Source: The Tribune, Chandigarh, India
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