Call it a mix of youth and experience or a balanced workable blend, Modi’s new team reflects a sense of purpose and seriousness. If Modi’s first term was about Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, his second innings is about winning Sabka Vishwas. As many as 37 ministers from the Modi 1.0 team have been dropped and it goes a long way to explain that this government means business.
Given the muscular image of Amit Shah and his equation with Modi, the Home Ministry appeared to be a perfect fit for the party president. Shah’s political brain-work and ground management has been the highlight of recent elections and he has proven beyond any reasonable doubt his credentials as a master strategist for the party in testing situations. He will have a direct say on Kashmir and the contentious NRC issue. Shah however doesn’t have much of a Home Ministry background. The last executive job he held was that of a Home Minister of Gujarat when Modi was the Chief Minister, a tenure that was marked with controversies. All said and done, it remains to be seen if Shah relinquishes the post of party president, an unlikely decision in view of the forthcoming assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra which will be crucial to the party.
Distributing portfolios may not be rocket-science to Modi, but balancing it with hierarchies is a daunting task. And this is where the prime minister has displayed his command. The minister holding the Home portfolio is usually seen as a No 2 in the cabinet, but in this case it was Rajnath who took oath after Modi’s swearing-in as the Defence Minister.
The Finance Ministry which was under intense speculation has been handed over to former defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman. She becomes the first woman defence minister after Indira Gandhi to hold the crucial finance portfolio and walks in at a time when the economy is facing huge challenges. Key issues like economic slowdown, GST simplification, unemployment, exports, investments and acquisitions will need direction and the onus will be on Nirmala to script India’s growth story from here.
The composition of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has been completely changed with two first-timers, Shah and Jaishankar replacing Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj. The change although is on health grounds, but goes to show once again that Modi has carefully gone about picking the right horses for courses.
S Jaishankar, the blue-eyed man of Modi, has been a perfect fit for the Foreign Ministry job, having worked as India’s Foreign Service official earlier. His role will be crucial as India’s ties with counties like Pakistan, United States and China have been in sharp focus lately. Rajnath takes over Defence against the Rafale backdrop, however, he will take comfort in the fact that the electorate has rejected the Opposition pitch of a scandal in the fighter jet deal.
Modi’s second journey starts today and there are huge challenges ahead. The tall election promises will be closely watched, monitored and assessed. His assertions that the party could no longer “differentiate on the basis of caste, religion or region” is a radical change with which he has set out this journey. To a large extent his mantra of trust revolves around giving a comfort feeling to the minorities. It now remains to be seen how Modi walks his talk.
