Damp squib: PM and Sonia let UPA and Congress down

By Sanjeev Srivastava

At first glance the much-awaited cabinet reshuffle exercise hardly adds to the image or stature of either the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, or the Congress President, Sonia Gandhi.

It has turned into another classic case of much ado about nothing with the Congress party living up to its reputation of much huffing and puffing in the run up to such events but ending up doing nothing much to upset the applecart.

This was supposed to be an “expansive restructuring” in the words of the prime minister himself aimed at shoring up the sagging image of a government caught between inertia and a cesspool of scandals and scams.

But there’s hardly any big idea emerging out of this exercise. In fact it should be quite an embarrassment for all those who thought that a new look, energised and decisive Prime Minister will emerge out of this reshuffle.

Listen to Sanjeev Srivastava and R Jagannathan discuss the cabinet reshuffle and its implications:

So what’s the big ticket change effected in this reshuffle -

The exchange of portfolios between Veerappa Moily and Salman Khursheed is being touted as one with Moily getting corporate affairs and Salman Khusheed being moved to Law and Justice. It can be seen as an elevation for Khursheed and a demotion for Moily but quite frankly neither of them is really an A-lister in the galaxy of Congress party political heavyweights.

So if this exchange programme between two middle level party leaders is the biggest bang the Prime Minister could provide in this reshuffle, one can well appreciate the limitations and the absence of any big ideas and coherent strategy in this much awaited exercise.

The moving of Jairam Ramesh from environment to rural development ministry is the other big takeaway of this reshuffle.

It’s difficult to figure out whether this should be seen as a promotion – since Ramesh will now have a cabinet rank and will be heading a ministry which manages one of UPA government’s flagship rural employment guarantee projects (NREGA)—or a punishment transfer out of the high profile environment portfolio where Ramesh was seen by many as more of an nuisance and publicity seeking green activist than someone who was playing a balancing role between development and environment.

It will not be easy to settle that debate but the prime minister has definitely had his say on Jairam who is regarded as being quite close both to the Congress President and Rahul Gandhi. The appointment of a more pragmatic Jayanthi Natarajan in the environment ministry is another indication that the Prime Minister had his way on this issue.

On the issue of corruption the Prime Minister’s only message perhaps is the demotion of rural development minister, Vilas Rao Deshmukh, who has been shifted to the politically insignificant and lightweight ministry of science, technology and earth sciences.

Continued on the next page..

But Deshmukh –who was in the line for getting a sack together with Kamal Nath —somehow managed to save his job and Kamal Nath emerged unscathed. It’s clear that the Prime Minister found his hands tied when it came to taking a call on the duo.

The induction of Milind Deora and Jeetendra Singh—both young MPs considered to be in the inner circle of Rahul Gandhi—should be seen more as an indication of what a Rahul cabinet will look like if and when it comes into existence. Rajiv Shukla has been given a portfolio—parliamentary affairs—where he should do well keeping in mind his contacts across party lines.

It’s difficult to look for any more messages in this reshuffle really. So on the twin criterion of performance and image makeover, ministers like Hadique, Bhuria, MS Gill (all predicted by Firspost) were shown the door and the resignation of others like Maran and Deora accepted.

Elevation of Beni Prasad Verma, Dinesh Trivedi, Srikant Jena (again predicted by Firstpost) was along expected lines.

As reported by us the big four—Pranab, Chidambram, Antony and Krishna — have been retained.

It’s however interesting to note that Kapil Sibal has retained both HRD and telecom, an indication that his clout remains undiminished while the wings of some of his colleagues holding more than one charge have been clipped.

But over all it’s difficult to imagine what the prime minister and the Congress president have really achieved at the end of the day. The exercise leaves much to be desired, there’s no big message and idea coming out of it, no morale booster and no fizz or pep! There’s nothing in this much awaited reshuffle for the average Congress sympathiser feeling increasingly dispirited, dejected and defeated by the day!

The reshuffle confirms the worst fears of the skeptics. This government has lost the political will to make an impact and shows no instincts of a champion fighter who would aim to come up trumps however hopeless the situation may appear to be. Rather than come out all-guns-blazing aimed at recapturing lost ground, rejuvenating and re-energising its ranks, the Congress top brass is playing like a team which has been forced to take the ground knowing fully well that they have lost the match.

Team Manmohan and Sonia should have done better than this. They have let the government and the party down!