Ghar Wapasi

Some governments are born lucky, some get lucky and some have audacious luck thrust on them. This one is all of this and more. It’s that time of its tenure, three years are up and two crucial ones ahead before the 2019 polls. The PM’s men have worked hard at getting luckier and sure enough, prodigal groupie JD(U) is back in the nick of time. Now, the long impending Cabinet reshuffle will happen sooner than later. Nitish is likely to get at least two ministers at the Centre. And Modi? He will inch closer to an
Opposition-mukt Bharat.

Heave Ho

May 2014. The mantra is “minimum government and maximum governance”. Modi’s council of ministers totals to 46. (UPA-II at last count had 71.) Specifics: no dynasts; UP has the maximum, 8; Maharashtra, which is going to polls soon, 5; no Union minister from WB, Kerala. Muzaffarnagar MP Sanjeev Baliyan, an accused in the 2013 riots, is inducted.

Shuffle 1

Nov. 2014. Six months since polls; time enough to rap and roll. Shiv Sena’s Suresh Prabhu, who has proven his loyalty to the PM when he was not PM, joins the BJP and is given Railways. Goa CM Manohar Parikkar gets Defence, which has been in Arun Jaitley’s charge alongside Finance and Corporate Affairs. But Information and Broadcasting (I&B) comes to Jaitley, and again he has three ministries to juggle. Council size, 66.

Shuffle 2

July 2016. By this time Smriti Irani has ruffled entire nests. Vemula’s death, the JNU arrests, the treatment to VCs of central varsities... She has also raked up the D-word. UP elections are round the corner. As corrective, Prakash Javadekar is given HRD and Irani, Textiles. Five Dalit leaders are inducted. Anupriya Patel, Apna Dal MP from UP’s Mirzapur finds a berth. Venkaiah Naidu, given I&B in addition to Urban Development, says: “We have inherited huge problems... 78 ministers is not large.”

Shuffle 3

Coming up. Amit Shah has filed his nomination papers for Rajya Sabha. Since Parikkar’s return to Goa, Defence has been with Jaitley. After Naidu’s resignation, Irani gets I&B. The Constitution states council size shall not exceed 15% of LS or 82. But these are times of maximum government, maximum luck, minimum governance.

Upala Sen