Modi will always keep us guessing
a word slip.
Similarly, the Foreign Office knew about the prime minister’s surprise trip to Pakistan. Various bureaucrats, Reserve Bank of India officials and those at the mint knew about demonetisation. But not one hint got out — even to the Cabinet.
No prime minister has been as much of a secretive loner as Modi. He is often compared to Indira Gandhi but she had a kitchen cabinet and then, a full-fledged court. If you were close to first, PN Haksar and later, RK Dhawan, you knew what was coming. Modi has no kitchen cabinet, no high-profile advisors, no courtiers and no cronies.
As for the reshuffle itself, it follows none of the patterns predicted by political ana- lysts. We were told that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) would play a key role but while some RSS favourites have been included, this is not an expansion that benefits gaurakshaks.
We were told that non-performers such as Radha Mohan Singh would go. They have survived. We were assured that poll-bound states such as Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat would get greater representation. They have not.
We were informed that Arun Jaitley’s star was on the decline, that he might even lose finance. In fact, he seems stronger than ever. The two great promotions have gone to Modi’s protégés, Piyush Goyal and Nirmala Sitharaman.
So, is there an overarching pattern to the reshuffle? Well, it confirms two things. One: Modi won’t give in to pressure. So despite a chargesheet, Uma Bharati stays. Suggestions that ML Khattar would be removed from Haryana and given a face-saving Cabinet portfolio after the Ram Rahim fiasco have also proved wrong.
And we know that Narendra Modi likes bureaucrats. So there’s lots of them in the ministry, though not necessarily in areas where they have any expertise.
Hardeep Puri was one of our ablest diplomats but he’s been parachuted into Urban Development. Nor is it clear why KJ Alphons should get tourism or RK Singh should be placed in energy.
But there is nearly always an internal logic to Modi’s moves. The trouble is: we can’t predict these moves and the logic is something that only he understands.
Till we figure out how his mind works, he will keep India guessing.