A day ahead of the shake-up of his Council of Ministers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a distinction between a “reshuffle” and an “expansion”.

As it turned out, the exercise was both in equal measure, with the “expansion” being a fundamentally political exercise: factoring in caste/social diversity to expand the BJP’s social support base. The “reshuffle”, on the other hand, was aimed at improving efficiency, rewarding performers and punishing those who courted controversy regardless of their perceived proximity to Modi.

The Prime Minister’s new team is thus, both a preparation for the 2017 Assembly elections in some key States, as well as the alignment of young professionals whom Modi will lead in the 2019 general elections. There are now as many as 41 junior ministers in the Council of Ministers.

It is significant that care has been taken to include an eminent doctor such as Subhash Bhamre, an equally reputed journalist of MJ Akbar’s stature, six lawyers and career politicians such as Vijay Goel, SS Ahluwalia and Anil Dave, even when the goal is to symbolically reflect social diversity at the top.

Modi is also proving to be receptive to criticism. The ouster of rape-accused Nihalchand Meghwal, motor-mouth Ramshankar Katheria, as well as the transfer of the feisty Human Resource Development Minister, Smriti Irani, to the relatively low-profile Textiles Ministry are pointers that courting controversy will not be encouraged. Reports that Irani’s transfer is indicative of her future projection as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister are at best empty speculation because BJP President Amit Shah, who is in charge of the UP campaign, is not exactly impressed with Irani’s skills. In fact, the leader to watch out for is the newly-inducted Anupriya Patel. The young and articulate leader is reportedly being groomed for, at the very least, active campaigning in UP.

The shunting out of Law and Justice Minister Sadananda Gowda, as well as divesting Ravi Shankar Prasad of the Telecom portfolio are indicative of the Prime Minister’s sensitivity to criticism about the handling of these departments.

Intriguing shift The most intriguing development when a premium is being placed on “performance” is the transfer of Jayant Sinha from Finance to the Civil Aviation Ministry. The most obvious explanation being offered by those in the know is that he is bearing the cross for his father, former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha’s public criticism of the PM’s policies and endeavours, especially his recent quips about India’s failed bid for NSG membership.

A clear attempt has been made to beef up the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry, especially in the wake of the repeated failure to coordinate and negotiate with the Opposition to get critical legislation, especially the Constitutional amendment Bill on the Goods and Services Tax (GST), through in the Rajya Sabha. Yet, M Venkaiah Naidu, far from being admonished, has been given charge of the key Information and Broadcasting portfolio.

Can the new team at Parliamentary Affairs Ministry — Ananth Kumar and SS Ahluwalia, who perhaps has the most exhaustive experience and familiarity with parliamentary practice and procedure in the BJP after Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley — do the trick?

So far as the expansion is concerned, the inclusion of five Dalits, two OBCs, two Tribals and two women is an obvious attempt by the BJP to expand its social support base. Dalits, who have traditionally not voted for the BJP, comprise 26 per cent of the new inductions, indicating that the BJP will make a serious bid for their support in the coming elections.

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