PM MODI MAY GO IN FOR ANOTHER CABINET REVAMP SHORTLY
entrant in the NDA would certainly find a few slots in the Union Council of Ministers, given that it had assisted the BJP in adding the state of Bihar to its growing empire. The JDU has two Lok Sabha members and seven members in the Rajya Sabha and thereby was eyeing a key portfolio at the Centre. However, on being totally ignored, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar did convey his dissatisfaction to the BJP leadership. Nitish Kumar, who was Minister for Railways in the Atal Behari Vajpayee Cabinet, when in February 2002, the Godhra incident took place, was hoping that his party would be granted the same portfolio or something as significant. Obviously, he did not figure that the Prime Minister’s style of functioning was different from that of Vajpayee and thus to expect him to give priority to the allies was not consistent with the new way of working.
Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray was similarly taken aback and yet covered up his disillusionment by stating that his party was “not hun- gry for power”. The Sena has 18 MPs and would have been satisfied had it been granted an additional Cabinet berth. The fact of the matter is that since this has not happened, the Sena has made feeble attempts to explain to its supporters that the reshuffle exercise both on 3 September and on an earlier occasion were merely confined to the BJP.
Like Shiv Sena, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), whose representative Ashok Gajapati Raju is the Civil Aviation Minister, was also eyeing another ministry. The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Chandrababu Naidu has not openly spoken out, but those close to him are convinced that his silence on the matter reflects his disappointment.
The Shiromani Akali Dal, which with the BJP administered Punjab for a decade, was equally eager to expand its slots in the Central government. At present, Harsimrat Kaur, daughter- in-law of former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, is the sole Akali nominee in the Cabinet.
Sources claimed that PM Modi had consciously left out the allies this time around, as he expects the AIADMK and some others to come on board in the immediate future. Once he is able to get more parties in the NDA, he would look at the possibility of another reshuffle. He is currently meas uring the strengths and weaknesses of different parties and accordingly would take an appropriate decision at an opportune time. He is equally keen to drive home the point that the BJP was not going to buckle under any pressure and thus would set the agenda as per its own political priorities.
However, there are powerful voices within the Sangh Parivar who have been in favour of Modi assuaging the hurt feelings of the allies by allocating some more positions. There are several ministers like Smriti Irani, Nitin Gadkari, Harsh Vardhan, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Piyush Goyal and Dharmendra Pradhan, who are holding multiple portfolios. Whether the Prime Minister yields to the requests of his associates is something he alone can answer.