A 'rainbow' cabinet
The major reshuffle in the cabinet of the Modi government 2.0, while putting a rubber stamp on many of the expected inclusions, on one hand, shocked many at the other with the firing out of top guns from the ministerial posts. It is no surprise that upcoming assembly elections in various states find reflection in the expansion or reshuffling of cabinet. The Bharatiya Janata Party — known for its long-term strategic planning for electioneering — has also sought to maintain balance in West Bengal where the party had an ego hurt recently after facing defeat at the hands of TMC. The current overhaul in the Central cabinet also seems to strike regional and caste-based balances in certain states. Another observable factor is the entry of bureaucrats — who are well-suited to carry out sophisticated tasks — into the cabinet. Starting with the exclusion saga, the resignation of big names from extremely critical portfolios like Education and Health is said to be a clean-up effort with regards to the below-the-mark performance in these sectors during the pandemic. Also, the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ravishankar Prasad and the Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar had to step down from their positions. Both the ministries had been under controversy in the past over the Twitter row and other matters. Irrespective of the government's stand on the controversial issues, the decision may be seen as taken to shape a clean perception of the party. After the ouster of Prasad, RK Singh, the Ara MP, has been included as a new face from Bihar; and Javadekar has opened the way for Narayan Rane from Maharashtra who is seen as a potent face to tackle the impact of Shiv Sena. Among the 12 ministers who lost their post, five were Minister of State — Rattan Lal Kataria, Babul Supriyo, Pratap Sarangi, Sanjay Dhotre and Debashree Choudhary. Coming next to the regional representation, Uttar Pradesh — which is going to polls next year — mopped up the largest share with the inclusion of seven ministers in the cabinet, taking the total to 14. The greater inclusion of ministers is widely being analysed in terms of balancing caste equations which play a decisive role on the ground of any political battle in the state. The caste politics in the state is dominated by the Brahmin votes, OBC votes and Dalit votes. Traditionally, BJP enjoys the support of Brahmins while the Samajwadi Party of Akhilesh Yadav has a stronghold in the Yadav faction of the OBC community; and BSP in the Jatav faction of OBC community. Apparently, it is the non-Yadav and non-Jatav OBC votes that the BJP is trying to cash in. Satyapal Singh Baghel who is the Dalit face of the BJP from Agra is now promoted in the Modi cabinet. Maharajganj MP Pankaj Choudhary is also included in the cabinet. Choudhary who belongs to the Kurmi community is being seen as a replacement of Santosh Gangwar — who resigned as the Labour Minister — of the same community. Another Kurmi leader Anupriya Patel of the Apna Dal party is also included in the cabinet. Other inclusions from the state are Kaushal Kishore, BL Verma, Bhanu Pratap Verma, Ajay Kumar. These promotions not only balance the caste equations in the state but also the regional balances, as the abovementioned leaders hail from varied crucial regions like Purvanchal, Braj, Bundelkhand etc. From Gujrat, which is also set to go to assembly elections next year, the new names include prominent Patel leaders like Purushottam Rupala and Mansukh Mandaviya. Apart from this, three OBC faces — Darshana Jardosh, Devu Singh Chauhan, and Mahendra Munjapara — are the new cards of the BJP from the state to consolidate the contested electorates. From West Bengal, apart from Nishith Pramanik, whose name was widely speculated, Shubhash Sarkar, John Barla and Shantanu Thakur have been raised to a cabinet position. The new cabinet has ensured the inclusion of various casts, communities, gender as well as geographical regions. It can be hoped that this inclusive cabinet will energize itself to take the nation out of the pitiable condition it is into. The new entrants in the critical sectors like health and education should be hoped to usher in a fresh approach towards tackling the mounting problems of the day. Meanwhile, the play of political cards will certainly impact the prospect of the party in the coming election — to what extent and in direction, it remains to be seen. It would be wrong to derive any direct correlation in this regard as the larger ground sentiment can ever turn the tide in an unprecedented direction in the realm of politics. However, the greater inclusion, for whatever reason — governance or politics — is a welcome sign. It can be hoped that more of it comes in the future.
