New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's new team is a "half-way measure" and there is nothing dramatic in the Cabinet reshuffle undertaken on Wednesday.
CNN-IBN Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai says even though the Prime Minister has acted against some of his ministers but the top four remain the same. The top four ministers include Home Minister P Chidambaram, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, External Affairs Minister SM Krishna and Defence Minister AK Antony.
"If this Cabinet reshuffle proves anything it suggests that UPA-II live by that adage that it 'never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity'. This Cabinet reshuffle was being billed as an attempt by Manmohan Singh to rebuild and refurbish the image that his government has battered by a series of scams and to bring an younger, fresher look; to weed out the non performers and those who has questions over their probity. At the end of the day none of that happened. Not a single minister has been dropped. Where does that leave the concept of accountability? The fact is that the government does not have a younger look, they remain where they were. The non-performers in some instances have actually been moved to equally high-profile ministries," says Rajdeep.
Both Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi were risk-averse and made no attempt in Wednesday’s reshuffle to at least send out a firm message to ministers who were not performing or who had questions over their moral character.
"One can understand that Manmohan Singh has a limited range of options when it comes to dealing with his allies but this was a reshuffle that essentially concerned the Congress. So questions have to be posed to both Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi," says Rajdeep.
Unfortunately Singh and Sonia have missed a great opportunity and there is a feeling if the Congress in order to play it safe is simply losing the plot.
"I think this must rank as the most timid Cabinet reshuffle yet in a few portfolios in the context Commonwealth Games mess; in the context of infrastructure some changes have been effected. But either it suggests talent deficit or it suggest a worrying lack of initiative on the part of the big two of the Congress party. At the end of the day most analysts will concede that this has been extremely disappointing Cabinet reshuffle," he says.
Rajdeep also says the Cabinet reshuffle raises a question mark over the political management of the Prime Minister and the Congress President.
Although the portfolios have many ministers, who were not performing upto the mark, have been changed but there no nothing major change.
"Moily (Law Minister M Veerappa Moily) and Shinde (Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde), over whome there was a question mark, remain in place; allies have not been distrubed barring Sharad Pawar being downsized. It is not a dramatic change, the Prime Minister has played it safe," he adds.
The Cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday evening saw no minister being dropped with only the portfolios of some of them being changed.
The Prime Minister inducted three new faces - Beni Prasad Verma, KC Venugopal and Ashwani Kumar - in the Union Ministry. Praful Patel, Salman Khursheed and Sriprakash Jaiswal have been elevated to Cabinet rank while the new faces include Beni Prasad Verma and Ashwini Kumar.
Another Cabinet reshuffle will take place in May after the Budget session of Parliament is over.
List of Cabinet Ministers:
Praful Patel: Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises
Shriprakash Jaiswal: Coal Ministry
Salman Khursheed: Water Resources and additional charge of Minority Affairs
Minister of State (Independent Charge):
Ajay Maken: Youth Affairs and Sports
Beni Prasad Verma: Steel
Professor KV Thomas: Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
Ministers of state:
Ashwani Kumar: Planning and Parliamentary Affairs and Science and Technology and Earth Sciences
KC Venugopal: Power
Ministers whose portfolios have been changed:
Cabinet ministers:
Sharad Pawar: Agriculture and Food Processing Industries
Virbhadra Singh: Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
Vilasrao Deshmukh: Rural Development and additional charge of Panchayati Raj
S Jaipal Reddy: Petroleum and Natural Gas
Kamal Nath: Urban Development
Vayalar Ravi: Overseas Indian Affairs and additional charge of Civil Aviation
Murli Deora: Corporate Affairs
Kapil Sibal: Human Resource Development and additional charge of Communications and Information Technology
BK Handique: Development of North-Eastern Region
CP Joshi: Road Transport and Highways
Kumari Selja: Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and additional charge of Culture
Subodh Kant Sahay: Tourism
Dr MS Gill: Statistics and Programme Implementation
Pawan Kumar Bansal: Parliamentary Affairs and additional charge of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences
Minister of State (Independent Charge):
Dinsha Patel: Mines
Ministers of State:
E Ahamed: External Affairs
Harish Rawat: Agriculture and Food Processing Industries
V Narayanasamy: Parliamentary Affairs and Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and Prime Minister’s Office
Gurudas Kamat: Home Affairs
A Sai Prathap: Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises
Bharatsinh Solanki: Railways
Jitin Prasada: Road Transport and Highways
Mahadev S Khandela: Tribal Affairs
RPN Singh: Petroleum and Natural Gas and Corporate Affairs
Tusharbhai Chaudhary: Road Transport and Highways
Arun Yadav: Agriculture and Food Processing Industries
Pratik Prakashbapu Patil: Coal
Vincent Pala: Water Resources and Minority Affairs
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