JOIN USPrime Minister Narendra Modi’s second term in office has begun with the swearing-in of his council of ministers on Thursday. Modi has returned to office stronger than he was in his first term, and the ministry is smaller than the previous one. More ministers may be inducted later, as the prime minister did in his first stint. It is a representative ministry, with most regions in the country finding place in it. Social and political factors have been taken into consideration, with politically more important states getting better representation. Minority representation has come down. The prime minister has made a point by dropping 37 ministers. Some of them may have been dropped for reasons related to performance and others on other grounds. The most notable omissions are Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, who have health problems. Allies have found their place in the ministry, except the JD(U), which has kept away because it is not happy with the single position that was offered to it.
The most important additions are BJP president Amit Shah and former foreign secretary S Jaishankar. They have been given the important portfolios of home and external affairs, respectively. Amit Shah’s induction into the cabinet and the award of the home portfolio to him, after shifting Rajnath Singh who has been given the defence ministry, sends out the clear signal that Shah is the number two in the cabinet. There was no doubt about who enjoyed most powers in the party and unofficially even in government matters, but Shah’s pre-eminent position has been formalised now. The handing of the home portfolio to Shah is significant at a time when the situation in Kashmir has deteriorated and the government is keen to push controversial issues like the Citizenship bill. Shah is known to hold strong and hardline views on these and many other issues. Jaishankar will bring experience and domain expertise to the external affairs ministry when there are many foreign policy challenges to be tackled. The internal and external security setup may be strengthened with Shah, Jaishankar, Rajnath Singh and Nirmala Sitharaman as members of the Cabinet Committee on Security.
Nirmala Sitharaman may have been rewarded for her hard work and dedication. The most important tasks before the government, now and in the near future, lie in the economic field. Sitharaman will be tested on the job from the beginning. Most ministers in the previous ministry have retained their portfolios, and some like Piyush Goyal have got additional responsibilities. The BJP does not have a great reservoir of talent and experience to be tapped for ministerial positions. In any case, even after the portfolios have been allocated, the strongest presence in every ministry will be Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself.