Reshuffle rationale

It is perhaps a measure of the confusion that prevails amongst the ever-growing tribe of Government-watchers that Wednesday's shuffling of the council of ministers by the Prime Minister has left everyone guessing as to what the Government's intentions are, and whether they will be achieved. The result is that there are as many explanations as commentators.

The most surprising change, at least to those not privy to the innermost thoughts of Dr Manmohan Singh and the Congress president, Ms Sonia Gandhi, was the shifting of Mr Murli Deora from the Petroleum Ministry to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. That he may have preferred a lighter assignment — he is 74, after all — is understandable.

But, then, why shift poor Mr Salman Khurshid, who had been doing a good job in Corporate Affairs, to Water Resources, which could just as well have been handled by Mr Deora if he wanted a nice sinecure? Likewise, Mr Jaipal Reddy was doing quite fine in Urban Development and his move to Petroleum will also raise an eyebrow or two.

Another noteworthy feature is the way the Congress has stuck its tongue out at its allies in the UPA. The DMK, forever in the news for good and bad reasons and now facing an election in four months, was given the coldest of cold shoulders: no one from its ranks has replaced Mr A. Raja, with the result that it is now one minister less.

But it can nurture some hope because the Prime Minister has said that there will be another reshuffle after the Budget, which could be in January 2012. In a sense, therefore, it has been put on probation. Similarly, the Trinamool Congress, which in some ways is more important than the DMK at this point, has also been given the short shrift. It did not get any more than it has already has. Mr Praful Patel has been pushed up but also sideways. His boss, Mr Sharad Pawar, has been divested of the food department, which has been given to his junior, Mr K. V. Thomas.

In short, the Congress has shown the country who the boss is. But the Prime Minister has moved in these mysterious ways his wonders to perform with some of the Congress ministers also. Kamal Nath has moved to Urban Development, which has a large budget and is in need of special attention. Mr M. S. Gill, whose knowledge of statistics must be very rusty, has been moved to the Ministry that generates them. And so on.

Politics aside, questions about reform and administrative efficiency remain. Will these changes accelerate the one and improve the other? Only the naive (and the 24X7 channels) would think so. There has hardly been any minister in the last two decades who can claim to have pushed either reforms or their implementation with great distinction. In that sense, who the minister is may be a matter of interest only for drawing-room talk.

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