Despite being described as a damp squib, Tuesday?s reshuffle exploded with gossip, innuendo, bursts of temper and heartburn. For reporters, for once, the Prime Minister?s Office delivered the goods, the list of new ministers and their portfolios was uploaded on the government Website by 11 am, giving plenty of time for wags and talking heads to expend their analytical breath.
But the early declaration of portfolios (traditionally revealed after the swearing-in ceremony) also meant that one minister-designate (Gurudas Kamat) chose not to attend the ceremony and subsequently resigned his position, another (Srikant Jena) sulked in a semi-private way, and yet another (Veerappa Moily) got lassoed by TV cameras into almost committing political hara-kiri.
The ceremony itself then turned into a non-event until the big tamale, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself, spoke out on the reshuffle. He declared that this particular reshuffle would be the last before the 2014 General Elections. A section of the Congress appeared horrified at the statement; the promise of ministerial berths is crucial in keeping the flock in order, goes the conventional wisdom in the party.
Yet another senior minister in the government, however, said that it was the paralysis in the government since the last reshuffle in January which prompted the statement. ?The Prime Minister had promised an expansive reshuffle in a few months. Which meant that most ministers were on tenterhooks and not willing to commit on policy work.? Whatever the motives behind the statement, it was yet another headline on a crowded day. But the day wasn?t over yet.
Newly appointed rural development minister Jairam Ramesh, who has his own peculiar style in all things, including his inexplicable hair cut, decided to head straight for his new office at Krishi Bhavan after he took oath. It was all very well, but for the fact that his predecessor Vilasrao Deshmukh?s name plate still hung on the door. A carpenter was searched for and summoned, and in full media glare the name plate was removed, proving that in politics, there is no such thing as too much symbolism.
Considering that many people considered this reshuffle as an elaborate camouflage to get Ramesh out of the environment ministry, it appeared fitting that he had the last word, and appeared as eager to leave Paryavaran Bhavan as industry giants were to see him go.