What was perceived as a ‘weakness’ by his former political party, the Shiv Sena, may end up being Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu’s ‘strength’ as the new Railway Minister.
In the previous NDA regime, under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the Shiv Sena had pulled Prabhu out from the Union Cabinet as he was seen as not furthering his party’s interests in Delhi. Now, Prabhu’s politically neutral stance is expected to work in his favour as the new Railway Minister.
A chartered accountant with a law background and pursuing a PhD in climate change and economics, Prabhu joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday and took charge as the second Railway Minister in the over five-month old Narendra Modi Government, on Monday.
He faces the same challenges that all Railway Ministers, including his predecessor DV Sadananda Gowda, faced: shoring up revenues, getting private investments and making the Railways more responsive to users.
His background in power reforms and finance is expected to come in handy in the Railways, which is on the road to restructuring.
While there was no official reason given for the shifting of Gowda to the Ministry of Law and Justice after such a short stint as Railway Minister, the buzz was that his son’s involvement in a controversy in Karnataka worked against him, while others said the ministry proved too complex for him and that he was unable to curb corruption.
However, Gowda brought in the much-required fare hike, finalised foreign direct investment in the Railways, increased the share of premium trains, presented a budget that shunned populism — earning praise from Modi — and pushed for more jobs to be carried out online.
New platform for clearanceOn Monday, Prabhu inaugurated a web-based platform for clearance of railway over-bridges and under-bridges that can be used by the National Highways Authority of India and other agencies that need clearances from the Railways.
After taking charge, the new Minister said safety and customer services were focus areas, as was the need to link the Railways with the economy.
One thing is is clear. The Railways portfolio continues to be as hot a seat in the BJP-led regime as it was during the United Progressive Alliance regime.