From Cabinet to swearing-in: How PM Modi sticks to weapon of surprise

That Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a supremely gifted politician is unarguable. In the last week, since he won an unprecedented mandate to govern India, he has unleashed a potent new weapon from his political armoury. It’s called the element of surprise. It might yet become his most powerful tool as he moves from campaign mode to the tough business of Government. He will use it to wrong-foot his foes and sometimes his friends. He will equally use it to win friends and allies when you least expect him to. Consider how Modi defied conventional wisdom by inviting the heads of all SAARC governments to his swearing-in. By inviting Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, he stunned and no doubt stunted (the power of) the hawks of the Sangh Parivar. By welcoming Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, he snubbed his own allies in TamilNadu. Whichever way you look at it, he seized the initiative and drew a clean slate for his foreign policy in the neighbourhood when everyone else (including the leaderships of neighbouring countries) expected him to be hardline. There were surprises in store in Cabinet formation. For the first time, one in every four Cabinet ministers is a woman. And if reports are to be believed, some of the women in the council of ministers hold weighty portfolios like External Affairs (Sushma Swaraj), Human Resources Development (Smriti Irani) and Commerce (Nirmala Sitharaman). This isn’t tokenism. And it is a surprise from a Prime Minister who has often been criticised for being patronising (rather than empowering) towards women. Add to that list, the appointment of Anandiben Patel as Chief Minister of Gujarat and the possible appointment of Sumitra Mahajan as Lok Sabha speaker and you see how Modi has quickly emerged as a champion of women’s empowerment, pulling the carpet from under Rahul Gandhi’s feet. [caption id=“attachment_1543849” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Narendra Modi is seen greeting the President after his swearing-in. AP[/caption] The composition of his council of ministers also shows how Modi has sprung an element of surprise by cleverly mixing competence and ‘accommodation’. Contrary to speculation, he did not induct any non-party technocrats, not even those who have been ministers before like Arun Shourie or Suresh Prabhu. He inducted some people who have less than satisfactory past records in ministerial positions – like Uma Bharti, Maneka Gandhi, even Ananth Kumar. But then, if reports are correct, he assigned those “accommodated” for purely political considerations relatively low profile ministries, whether Water Resources to Bharti, Women and Child welfare to Gandhi, Heavy Industries to Kalraj Mishra or Minority Affairs to Najma Heptullah. In the crucial economic ministries, those which will have to deliver if he is to fulfill his mandate for change, he chose younger, more competent faces like Nitin Gadkari for Transport, Piyush Goel for Power and Coal, Sadanand Gowda for Railways, Prakash Javdekar for Environment and Forests, Smriti Irani for Education and Harsh Vardhan for Health. These younger, fresher faces, grateful for the high profile jobs they have been handed, are more likely to be responsive to Modi’s leadership. Of course, Modi did not take any risks with the top 4 jobs of Finance, Hone, Defence and External Affairs, but he may yet spring a surprise when he appoints a full time Defence Minister. What is becoming clear is that Modi isn’t going to govern by any textbook. The element of surprise in his armoury – over the last ten days, he has sent the press corps into a dizzy spin with an almost “no-leaks” style of operation – will lend that extra edge of dynamism to a Modi administration. His critics, the opposition, even the leaderships of other countries, can try and slot him into convenient classifications (hawk, right-winger, authoritarian etc) but they would be making a grave mistake. Even his supporters would be foolhardy to pigeon-hole him. With Prime Minister Modi, there are likely to be several surprises around every corner. To keep pace, everyone has to start thinking out of the box. PS: In keeping with Modi’s style, it would not be a surprise if some of the portfolio allocations mentioned in this piece turn out different when officially announced.