In political carpentry, especially when it comes to Cabinet-making, removing deadwood is no simple matter. Thus, it is that four years into its government?s term, with prospects of general elections already affecting strategy, the Congress gives two of its ?young MPs? ministerial jobs, and retains all the old soldiers whose virtue is not even consistent loyalty, as has been evident whenever the latter have felt the government is veering dangerously close to economic rationality. The whole point of getting young MPs, most of whom are comfortable with the idea of post-1990s economics, was that they would energise a council of ministers that, bluntly put, had too many political/administrative has-beens. Pranab Mukherjee is probably the only exception among the old guard?and he will remain an asset for quite some time. So, it is a safe bet that this Cabinet reshuffle would improve the Congress?s political profile no more than past exercises. However, let?s note than Jitin Prasada and Jyotiraditya Scindia have interesting remits. Prasada?s senior minister is Ram Vilas Paswan and Scindia?s, A Raja. Paswan is an old school statist and leader of an allied party. Raja is guarding the DMK?s claim over telecom and IT. Both steel and telecom/IT need new ideas. In IT/telecom, issues about spectrum, 3G telephony, universal licences, etcetera, need some radical ministerial thinking. In steel, inflation control is becoming an excellent excuse to dust off old mantras of the control raj. Can the two young ministers of state work around their seniors, who are both confident of their political value to the Congress? Do the PM and Sonia Gandhi want these youngsters to respectfully subvert agendas? Or will they be decorative pieces? This should be interesting to watch.
But what everyone really wants to know is this: why is Rahul Gandhi still in reserve? Rahul is probably prioritising political field work right now. A smart move, since he doesn?t need a ministerial job before getting a big job, post-election victory. Of course, if the Congress does get a victory, a big if, it will not be because of timely deployment of young administrative talent. It is something of a tragedy that the Congress leadership never tested even the beginnings of its punitive powers against obvious ministerial misfits. The Congress faces tough questions on national security and quality education. Home and HRD are invulnerable to change.
