New Delhi: With the clock ticking, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday shuffled his council of ministers to get the team ready for the crucial 2019 general election. He promoted and demoted ministers on the basis of performance, threw in a few surprises and sent a signal on the “empowerment of women” by making Nirmala Sitharaman India’s first full-time woman defence minister, a portfolio mainly dominated by men. Indira Gandhi had earlier held the defence portfolio twice, but that was in addition to being Prime Minister.
Of the 13 ministers who took the oath on Sunday, the Prime Minister brought in nine new faces.
The JD(U) and the Shiv Sena skipped the swearing-in ceremony while Tamil Nadu’s ruling AIADMK attended it. This was the third reshuffle since the Narendra Modi government came to power in May 2014.
As for surprises, the PM inducted two prominent retired bureaucrats, Hardeep Singh Puri and Alphons Kannanthanam, for housing and urban affairs and tourism and information technology respectively. Both have been made ministers of state (independent charge). Neither is a member of Parliament, and must be elected to either of the two Houses within six months.
Two other former bureaucrats were brought in too — former home secretary R.K. Singh and former Mumbai police commissioner Satya Pal Singh — both of whom are Lok Sabha members.
For their performance, Piyush Goyal, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Dharmendra Pradhan were elevated. While Mr Goyal, minister of state (independent charge) for power, was elevated to Cabinet rank and given charge of the crucial railway ministry too, Dharmendra Pradhan was elevated from MoS (independent charge) to Cabinet minister in charge of petroleum.
Mr Pradhan was also given additional charge of the skill development ministry, that was earlier with Rajiv Pratap Rudy, one of the ministers asked to put in his papers 48 hours before the Cabinet reshuffle.
MoS (independent charge) for minority affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi was elevated to Cabinet rank. As for demotions, the PM took away the sports ministry from minister of state (independent charge) Vijay Goel and shifted him to parliamentary affairs as an MoS. Minister of state for information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore was shifted to the sports ministry as minister of state (independent charge). Mr Rathore will also continue as MoS at I&B.
There were no changes in the portfolios of the big three — Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj and Rajnath Singh. Mr Jaitley, who was holding additional charge of defence, will continue as finance minister, Ms Swaraj as external affairs minister and Mr Singh as home minister.
Textiles minister Smriti Irani, who was given additional charge of I&B, will retain that portfolio from now as a full-time charge.
After a spate of train accidents, Mr Suresh Prabhu was shifted to commerce and industries, that was held by Ms Sitharaman. After the Rashtrapati Bhavan ceremony got over, Mr Prabhu tweeted that he was stepping down as railway minister. Mr Prabhu had offered to resign after a spate of accidents, but was asked to wait by Mr Modi.
Ms Uma Bharti was divested of the Prime Minister’s pet ministry, Ganga rejuvenation and water resources, and shifted to the ministry for water and sanitation. One of the ministers who virtually topped the performance list, road transport, highways and shipping minister Nitin Gadkari, was given charge of Ganga rejuvenation, river development and water resources.
Other than the “4Ps — passion, proficiency, professional and political acumen”, said to be the main factors behind selecting the nine new faces, the ruling BJP’s political considerations also got highlighted. Three brahmins, one jat, one OBC, two rajputs, a dalit and two representatives from the minority communities got representation in Mr Modi’s team. While the BJP’s main focus is on OBCs and dalits, brahmins are seen as its core votebank.
A signal was also sent to poll-bound Karnataka. While Ms Sitharaman, a Rajya Sabha MP from Karnatakata, was made defence minister, Ananth Kumar Hegde from the coastal region of Karnataka was brought in as MoS for skill development.
Incidentally, the BJP did not perform well in the region in the last Assembly polls. Mr Hegde is also close to the RSS, sources said.
After the reshuffle, Mr Modi tweeted that he hoped the “experience and wisdom” of all those who took the oath would add “immense value to the council of ministers”.
The new faces in Team Modi represent states like Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Rajashthan, where Assembly elections are due; Kerala, where the BJP is trying to expand its base; Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP formed its first government after 14 years; and Bihar, where it joined hands again with Nitish Kumar’s JD(U).
Among the new ministers — R.K. Singh (Rajput), Hardeep Singh Puri (Sikh) and Alphons Kannanthanam (Christian) were made MoS (independent charge). Mr Singh was given charge of power and new and renewable energy.
Rajya Sabha MP Shiv Pratap Shukla (Brahmin) was made MoS finance, while former Mumbai police chief and Baghpat MP Satya Pal Singh (Jat) was given HRD, water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation. While Mr Shukla is from eastern UP, Dr Singh is from western UP.
Buxar MP Ashwini Choubey (brahmin) is now MoS health and family welfare, Tikamgarh MP Virendra Kumar (dalit) is MoS, women and child and minority affairs and Jodhpur MP Gajendra Singh Shekhawat (Rajput) is MoS agriculture.
Asked for his reaction after the rejig, Mr Jaitley said the allocation of portfolios was done after close monitoring of the performance of each ministry and its ministers by the PM. Mr Jaitley said the PM had certainly laid down “a high standard of accountability in governance”. Mr Jaitley added the allocations were based on competence and who could perform well in which ministry.
With the latest expansion and reshuffle, there are now a total of 76 ministers, including the Prime Minister, with 27 having Cabinet rank, 11 ministers of state with independent charge and 37 ministers of state. There are 57 ministers from the Lok Sabha and 18 from the Rajya Sabha. Uttar Pradesh has 12 ministers in the government, including Mr Modi.
