Tuesday’s cabinet reshuffle was an expansion with no surprises; it was more of a disappointment for performing ministers with the unexpected shock elevation of one minister. The expansion with 19 new faces had a clear message to the Scheduled Castes and OBC.
While Rajasthan got the maximum representation followed by Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, there was no new inductee from Punjab despite the fact that the state is going to the polls with UP and Uttarakhand. It appears the BJP, at least for time, is depending on the Shiromani Akali Dal.
Junior ministers like Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan and, to some extent, Jayant Sinha were expected to be elevated to cabinet rank but there were no changes at all. Apparently, the yardstick for the elevation of Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar was his “outstanding performance due to which growth accentuated. He is a top ranking minister and a front ranking leader from Maharashtra”.
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A lot of effort appears to have gone into social engineering. There are six Scheduled Castes, two each representing Brahmin, Jat and Scheduled Tribes, and one each representing the Marathas and Ahoms (in Assam). One new face each will also represent Muslims, Sikhs, Vaish, Upper Castes and Patels.
Two allies have been inducted, Anupriya Patel of Apna Dal from UP and Ramdas Athawale of Republican Party of India from Maharashtra. While Patel belongs to the Kurmi caste, Athawale is a Scheduled Caste.
Besides Anupriya Patel, the two others from UP are Krishna Raj belonging to the Pasi (SC) caste representing Shahjahanpur Lok Sabha constituency and Mahendra Pratap Pandey, a Brahmin, representing Chandauli LS.
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Rajasthan has got the maximum number of representation perhaps to offset trouble-makers for Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. Those inducted are PP Chaudhary and CR Chaudhary, both Jat leaders from Pali and Nagaur Lok Sabha constituencies. Others are Arjun Ram Meghwal, a SC and MP from Bikaner constituency and Vijay Goel, MP from Rajya Sabha.
Like UP, three new faces have been inducted from Gujarat. Those inducted include two Rajya Sabha MPs Mansukh Mandaviya of Leuva Patel and Parshottambhai Rupala, an Upper Caste leader. The third new face is Jasvantsinh Sumanbhai Bhabhor, an ST from Dabhod Lok Sabha constituency.
Madhya Pradesh too will have adequate representation in the Modi government. Recently, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had a meeting with the RSS. To curtail the Congress exercise of social engineering, a politically well-crafted strategy has been put in place by inducting Rajya Sabha MP MJ Akbar, a Muslim face, Anil Madhav Dave, a Brahmin and Faggan Kulaste, a Gond tribal.
From Maharashtra, Dr Subhash Bhambre, a Maratha representing Dhule Lok Sabha constituency, has been inducted besides ally Athawale, who was promised a seat before 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Apart from this, Ajay Tamta, a Dom representing Almora Lok Sabha constituency, has been inducted. SS Ahluwalia, MP from Darjeeling, has been inducted to give Sikh representation. Rajen Gohain, an Ahom and a MP from Nawgong, has been inducted to give representation to the North East also.
