Shuffling around

The Prime Minister is said to be looking at a rejuvenation of the work ethics of his Ministerial team with the latest reshuffle, the emphasis of which has been an orientation towards youth.

Clearly, the intention is to be lauded, especially in view of the fact that the performance of the UPA-2 Government till now has been, to say the least, lacklustre.

But of course, since the test of the pudding lies in its eating, only time will tell whether or not Manmohan Singh’s intention will work itself out in practice.

The problem is that, if one looks back, no single reshuffle of any Ministerial team, whether major or minor, has produced cataclysmic results on the ground.

Admittedly, in some instances, files have moved quicker than previously and course corrections have been made. But in no case has the overall performance of a Government been altered drastically because of a Ministerial reshuffle.

The pluses and minuses associated with such a change have always appeared to cancel themselves out.

Khurshid elevation

So what does one truly expect of the latest reshuffle, which has put into the shade all such exercises in the recent past? The prognosis is discouraging.

Take, for instance, the change in the External Affairs Ministry. The new incumbent, Salman Khurshid, may or may not do a better job than his predecessor, S.M. Krishna, but that is not the main point as far as this Ministerial change is concerned.

In recent days, Khurshid has been at the centre of an unseemly controversy regarding the use of funds relating to a trust in which he and his wife are involved.

The question here is, did the Prime Minister do well to select Khurshid for a portfolio as important as External Affairs at this precise moment?

Even if the Congress Party is within its rights to ignore the allegations made by India Against Corruption, was it proper to “sully” the image of the External Affairs portfolio by thrusting on it a person who is just now in the public eye for the wrong reasons?

New power dispensation

The change at the Petroleum Ministry, too, could have been avoided at the moment in view of the issues swirling around the Ministry relating to difficulties being faced by certain corporate houses.

Also, the spatial distribution of portfolios, Cabinet and otherwise, too has been the subject of comment, the focus being directed at the prospects facing the Congress Party in the elections ahead.

A damaging inference is that the reshuffle has been geared more to the emergence of a new power dispensation within the Congress in the months ahead, than to the declared theme of efficiency of performance.

Whether the electorate will accept the change or not will depend entirely on whether the new team will be able to deliver before the next elections, which may not be too far off.

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