India’s Cabinet rejig aims to address regional and religious considerations

In contrast to American democracy which witnesses political debates primarily when campaign for presidential elections is at its peak, Indian democracy is hardly ever devoid of heated political debates. Now, political speculations as well as debates are focusing on whether the much talked about Cabinet reshuffle spells any major change of fortune for the Congress-led coalition government at the center. Questions are also being raised on why Rahul Gandhi has remained out of the Cabinet. Rahul may be expected to formally remain out of the government until a decision is taken asking him to head it as prime minister. This key decision is least likely to be taken before the next parliamentary polls.
Elevation of Salman Khurshid to the coveted ministry of external affairs has certainly raised many eyebrows for several reasons. Khurshid earlier headed the law ministry and that of minority affairs. The Congress-led government has clearly chosen to snub “activists” who have recently levied charges of corruption against Khurshid. Rather than dropping him from the Cabinet, the government has decided to give him a more important portfolio. With Indian parliamentary elections due in 2014, Khurshid and other new entrants cannot be expected to achieve much in roughly a year’s time. In this context, it would be more appropriate to describe this reshuffle as more of an electoral necessity for the Congress.
Khurshid holds Farrukkhabad seat from Uttar Pradesh (UP) in Lok Sabha (Lower House). The Congress has less than two dozen members in Lok Sabha from UP, the state which is represented by 80 members in the Lower House. Of these, only three are Muslims, including Khurshid and former cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin. The Congress’ political strategy is thus double-edged. It has sent the message that corruption charges levied against its members are not going to dictate its political strategy. Secondly, the party is hopeful that Khurshid’s elevation will be welcomed by Muslim voters in UP and they will respond by helping the Congress gain more seats in forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Elevation of Khurshid reflects just one major card exercised by the Congress to woo Muslim voters. The same is suggested by inclusion of three new members in the Cabinet. Thy are K. Rehman Khan as union minister for minority affairs, Tariq Anwar as minister of state for agriculture and food processing industries and A.H. Khan Choudhary, minister of state, health and family welfare. Of these three new faces, Tariq Anwar is a member of Congress-ally, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Their inclusion almost doubles the number of Muslims in the Indian Cabinet. The others, included earlier, are Ghulam Nabi Azad, union minister for health and family welfare, Farooq Abdullah, union minister for new and renewable energy and E. Ahamed, minister of state for external affairs. Of these, while Abdullah belongs to a Congress-ally from Jammu and Kashmir (National Conference), Ahamed is from a regional party in Kerala (Indian Union Muslim League).
The Congress has also exercised a carefully manipulated regional strategy in this reshuffle. This is marked by 22 new inductions having increased representation of their respective states in the union Cabinet. The states which have benefited the most are Andhra Pradesh (AP), Kerala, West Bengal and Gujarat. The reshuffle brings headcount of ministers from AP to 10 and from Kerala to eight.
The Congress has deliberately included three ministers from West Bengal to send a strong message to the state Chief Minister Mamata Bannerjee, who recently withdrew her party’s support from the Congress-led coalition government. The Congress wants Mamata, who also heads the regional party Trinamool Congress, to understand that it can move ahead without the latter’s support. The new minister of state (railways) Adhir Chowdhury is known Mamata detractor. The other two entrants from West Bengal, Choudhary and Deepa Dasmunshi are also know Mamata baiters.
From the Congress angle, it has deliberately included Mamata critics in the Cabinet to politically snub the Trinamool leader and state chief minister. Not surprisingly, Trinamool Congress has reacted sharply by describing this reshuffle as “unconstitutional” and that it has done “injustice” to West Bengal. This definitely has begun a new verbal war between the Congress and Trinamool members. Soon after being inducted in the Cabinet, Adhir challenged Trinamool to vote against the Congress-led government in coming winter session of the Parliament. If Mamata “has guts to do so,” the Congress is not afraid of facing the test, Adhir said.
Described as the third and probably the last major reshuffle before the parliamentary polls, it has also been described as a move to include younger people in the Cabinet. Around half a dozen of the younger ministers, known to be close to Rahul Gandhi, have been allotted ministries of independent charge. The Congress is experimenting with their potential. At the same time, among the ministers who handed in their resignation before the reshuffle, all are senior party members. The Congress needs them to strengthen its position ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. This also implies that if they help Congress in returning to power, they are likely to be rewarded again with ministerial berths.
Interestingly, Rahul Gandhi’s non-inclusion in the Cabinet is linked with his desire to give more time to work for the Congress party. Ahead of the reshuffle, speculations were doing rounds on whether he would be included in or not. His non-inclusion adds credence to the claim that the reshuffle has been carefully planned and implemented for two reasons: Firstly, to snub critics of the Congress-led government and prepare the groundwork for helping the party gain in parliamentary polls scheduled for 2014. Secondly. in addition to playing on the regional and religious card, the Congress has given greater importance than before to younger members. Yet, much may be said about aim of the Congress to excite enthusiasm of younger generation, however, it is amply clear that both the Cabinet and the Congress party are still dominated by senior members.
Undeniably, his party members and the Indian public view Rahul as an important Congress leader. Yet to this day, except for winning from his own constituency (Amethi in UP), Rahul’s campaign has not helped Congress gain significantly. In less than two years from now, the picture will be clearer regarding Rahul’s own position and that of younger generation on the political stage. The Cabinet reshuffle is thus reflective of a small but significant step taken by the Congress in this direction. There is no doubt that the Congress has taken this move, that of Cabinet reshuffle, after carefully weighing all its political options!

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