It was labelled an expansion of the Union Council of Ministers. Instead, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had redrawn the ministerial map of his government, in a masterful change of guard in major ministries. The 19 new faces inducted by him in his Council were eclipsed by the changes their seniors went through in their work load and descriptions. As the smoke clears away from the detritus of this exercise we realised the real “Chanakya” in Modi.
The most obvious message seems to be that Mr. Modi has demonstrated that there will be no administrative islands in his government. Unlike the previous UPA government, with dominating allies and party pressures, the Prime Minister has sent a message that participation in his government shall be at his pleasure. Modi the man with a mission did make an impact in ministerial change and made the controversial ministers to quit the post, once the controversy had run its course. The rejig of portfolios did redeem the promise of what this was built up to be.
S. Abhishek Ramaswamy
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
