Indian cabinet reshuffle

Those writing Smriti Irani’s political obituary should pause for a while. It is too early to write her off

The recent cabinet reshuffle executed by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi made news for more reasons than one. Probably aware of the onslaught that was on the cards, Modi had, a day earlier, played down the reshuffle by calling it a “mere expansion” rather than it being a mammoth exercise of inductions and expulsions.
 But then Modi is a man of surprises and his pulling out a rabbit out of a hat is well known. He did it hours before his swearing in by inviting heads of SAARC states to watch him take oath; he did it by air-dashing to Lahore to stop by and meet his counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Pakistan and so on and so forth. So to expect the reshuffle not to create a buzz was going against the grain.
 Yet what distinguished this reshuffle from perhaps all others in the past was that it involved the students countrywide. There were celebrations all across.
 This was one “expansion” to use Modi’s terminology, where heads did roll. And it was one that had more shock value than a sunshine factor. Of course those inducted or promoted had their reasons to rejoice but the exercise went beyond it. It was less, person specific and more message oriented.
The one and singular message being that Modi is a no nonsense man and would not tolerate toying around in governance. On the contrary, governance for him is a serious business and anyone who uses it as a foothold to play to the gallery will be cut to size. This is exactly what he did earlier this week, dampening Eid festivities for a handful of his ministerial colleagues.
 The students rejoiced given that it was the first time that a Cabinet reshuffle impacted them as never before. Even the country’s designers had a stake in the changing face of the Union Cabinet. In the eye of the storm was Union Minister and a Modi loyalist Smriti Irani.
 What made headlines is Irani’s shift from a high profile HRD ministry to the inconsequential Textile ministry. While students welcomed her ouster, designers working closely in the Textile sector were apprehensive. What could work in Irani’s favour is that she is a doer and the Textiles Ministry could do well with an imaginative minister who would infuse energy into an otherwise dormant ministry.
 Till she joined politics Smriti was a well known face on Indian television. She was the protagonist in a very popular women centric serial that grabbed eyeballs at a scale rarely witnessed on the small screen. Her loyalty to either the BJP or Modi is not deep-rooted given that she is a recent entrant in the party and had criticized Modi for his role in the Gujarat riots.
Known to build bridges as fast as she burns them, Irani shot into prominence as Rajya Sabha MP but had tongues wagging when Modi handpicked her to be his Cabinet minister in the first round of Cabinet formation. That apart, he handed her the plum portfolio of Human Resource Development that deals with the sensitive and volatile issue of Education.
 Apart from her mishandling the Jawaharlal Nehru students protest and suicide of a Dalit student down south, questions were raised at her educational qualifications and her being mocked at for flagging a week long course at Yale as a degree from the prestigious university. Of course there were insinuations that she had disarmed the leadership and cajoled it into elevating her to a Cabinet rank. That she had bagged a plum portfolio was too much for her detractors to swallow. In any case, Irani has more enemies than friends within the BJP. So when she was axed, there were more smiles than tears.
 Though smiles and tears are an integral part of all reshuffles, this one had an interesting input. It came from students, who are otherwise oblivious of who is or who is not a minister. This is not to suggest that they are apolitical but that they look at the macro picture of governance rather than who is where and what, so to say.
 For them it was “party time” because a minister who had given them sleepless nights with her aggressive and non compromising stance was axed: “The blood sucking beast” said one “has been crushed”. The common refrain was Dracula gone.
 Irani, it is common knowledge, had stung them to the point of being unreasonable. In the process she upset the fragile relationship between the government and the student community.
 It is well known that during Irani’s tenure talks between the student community and the ministry never ever happened. Campuses saw angry agitations with charged flying high. Students were thrown in jail; free speech was curbed and autonomy in danger. None of this went down well. The government came across as authoritarian and one which allowed no room for dissent.
 Therefore, when Irani’s successor Prakash Javadekar spoke about his being a product of students’ agitation two things became clear: One that there would be a departure from the past; two that conciliation rather than confrontation would be the new norm.
 Irani, it seems, had faith in spare the rod and spoil the child dictum. Politically this had alienated the students who otherwise are a strong vote bank for the BJP. For them to turn their backs on the saffron party was nothing short of political suicide.
 However, those writing Irani’s political obituary should pause a while. It is too early to write her off. That she is likely to bounce back is not unforeseen. One assessment is that she has been given a light work load so that the party can effectively use her for the forthcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh where the BJP has high stakes. Irani’s track record in Amethi where she took on Congress scion Rahul Gandhi is quite impressive. She could not defeat him but she sure gave him a tough time.
 With the Congress planning to use Priyanka Gandhi in the campaign, Irani would match her prowess than many in the BJP can.
 Ofcourse there are a few takers for Irani’s resurrection theory given the manner in which she has been downgraded. Club this with another crucial change and the writing on the wall is clear.
 Another high profile minister, Jayant Sinha, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s deputy, was also shunted out from the plum ministry to a less important one. Sinha’s shift has little bearing to the elections. Therefore to say that Irani will be given a crucial role in the future and Sinha will languish is a bit far-fetched.
 Political observers prefer to link the two rather than delink the Irani Sinha shift. Both, they conclude, were out of sync with the way ministers should conduct themselves. By all accounts, Irani was too shrill and Sinha often spoke out of turn.
 But one should not put it past Modi to pull yet another rabbit out of a hat in the near future. He could make Irani the face of the election campaign. Once she is pitched against the Gandhis she would re-emerge and occupy centre-stage.  That would leave her critics running for cover. She would recover lost ground. Those mocking her today then would be left licking their wounds. As they say, in politics, never say die.

The writer is a senior Indian journalist, political commentator and columnist of The Independent. She can be reached at: ([email protected])

Indian cabinet reshuffle

Those writing Smriti Iranis political obituary should pause for a while. It is too early to write her off

The recent cabinet reshuffle executed by Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi made news for more reasons than one. Probably aware of the onslaught that was on the cards, Modi had, a day earlier, played down the reshuffle by calling it a mere expansion rather than it being a mammoth exercise of inductions and expulsions. But then Modi is a man of surprises and his pulling out a rabbit out of a hat is well known. He did it hours before his swearing in by inviting heads of SAARC states to watch him take oath; he did it by air-dashing to Lahore to stop by and meet his counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Pakistan and so on and so forth. So to expect the reshuffle not to create a buzz was going against the grain. Yet what distinguished this reshuffle from perhaps all others in the past was that it involved the students countrywide. There were celebrations all across. This was one expansion to use Modis terminology, where heads did roll. And it was one that had more shock value than a sunshine factor. Of course those inducted or promoted had their reasons to rejoice but the exercise went beyond it. It was less, person specific and more message oriented. The one and singular message being that Modi is a no nonsense man and would not tolerate toying around in governance. On the contrary, governance for him is a serious business and anyone who uses it as a foothold to play to the gallery will be cut to size. This is exactly what he did earlier this week, dampening Eid festivities for a handful of his ministerial colleagues. The students rejoiced given that it was the first time that a Cabinet reshuffle impacted them as never before. Even the countrys designers had a stake in the changing face of the Union Cabinet. In the eye of the storm was Union Minister and a Modi loyalist Smriti Irani. What made headlines is Iranis shift from a high profile HRD ministry to the inconsequential Textile ministry. While students welcomed her ouster, designers working closely in the Textile sector were apprehensive. What could work in Iranis favour is that she is a doer and the Textiles Ministry could do well with an imaginative minister who would infuse energy into an otherwise dormant ministry. Till she joined politics Smriti was a well known face on Indian television. She was the protagonist in a very popular women centric serial that grabbed eyeballs at a scale rarely witnessed on the small screen. Her loyalty to either the BJP or Modi is not deep-rooted given that she is a recent entrant in the party and had criticized Modi for his role in the Gujarat riots. Known to build bridges as fast as she burns them, Irani shot into prominence as Rajya Sabha MP but had tongues wagging when Modi handpicked her to be his Cabinet minister in the first round of Cabinet formation. That apart, he handed her the plum portfolio of Human Resource Development that deals with the sensitive and volatile issue of Education. Apart from her mishandling the Jawaharlal Nehru students protest and suicide of a Dalit student down south, questions were raised at her educational qualifications and her being mocked at for flagging a week long course at Yale as a degree from the prestigious university. Of course there were insinuations that she had disarmed the leadership and cajoled it into elevating her to a Cabinet rank. That she had bagged a plum portfolio was too much for her detractors to swallow. In any case, Irani has more enemies than friends within the BJP. So when she was axed, there were more smiles than tears. Though smiles and tears are an integral part of all reshuffles, this one had an interesting input. It came from students, who are otherwise oblivious of who is or who is not a minister. This is not to suggest that they are apolitical but that they look at the macro picture of governance rather than who is where and what, so to say. For them it was party time because a minister who had given them sleepless nights with her aggressive and non compromising stance was axed: The blood sucking beast said one has been crushed. The common refrain was Dracula gone. Irani, it is common knowledge, had stung them to the point of being unreasonable. In the process she upset the fragile relationship between the government and the student community. It is well known that during Iranis tenure talks between the student community and the ministry never ever happened. Campuses saw angry agitations with charged flying high. Students were thrown in jail; free speech was curbed and autonomy in danger. None of this went down well. The government came across as authoritarian and one which allowed no room for dissent. Therefore, when Iranis successor Prakash Javadekar spoke about his being a product of students agitation two things became clear: One that there would be a departure from the past; two that conciliation rather than confrontation would be the new norm. Irani, it seems, had faith in spare the rod and spoil the child dictum. Politically this had alienated the students who otherwise are a strong vote bank for the BJP. For them to turn their backs on the saffron party was nothing short of political suicide. However, those writing Iranis political obituary should pause a while. It is too early to write her off. That she is likely to bounce back is not unforeseen. One assessment is that she has been given a light work load so that the party can effectively use her for the forthcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh where the BJP has high stakes. Iranis track record in Amethi where she took on Congress scion Rahul Gandhi is quite impressive. She could not defeat him but she sure gave him a tough time. With the Congress planning to use Priyanka Gandhi in the campaign, Irani would match her prowess than many in the BJP can. Ofcourse there are a few takers for Iranis resurrection theory given the manner in which she has been downgraded. Club this with another crucial change and the writing on the wall is clear. Another high profile minister, Jayant Sinha, Finance Minister Arun Jaitleys deputy, was also shunted out from the plum ministry to a less important one. Sinhas shift has little bearing to the elections. Therefore to say that Irani will be given a crucial role in the future and Sinha will languish is a bit far-fetched. Political observers prefer to link the two rather than delink the Irani Sinha shift. Both, they conclude, were out of sync with the way ministers should conduct themselves. By all accounts, Irani was too shrill and Sinha often spoke out of turn. But one should not put it past Modi to pull yet another rabbit out of a hat in the near future. He could make Irani the face of the election campaign. Once she is pitched against the Gandhis she would re-emerge and occupy centre-stage. That would leave her critics running for cover. She would recover lost ground. Those mocking her today then would be left licking their wounds. As they say, in politics, never say die. The writer is a senior Indian journalist, political commentator and columnist of The Independent. She can be reached at: ([email protected])