Cabinet Reshuffle
After a little over three years as Home Minister, where he has performed well, P. Chidambaram has been shifted to North Block, to take charge of the Finance Ministry. In a minor reshuffle, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave the Home portfolio to Sushil Kumar Shinde, who was Power Minister. Simultaneously, Union Corporate Affairs Minister M. Veerappa Moily has been given additional charge of Power. Some will argue that the Home portfolio is too important a job to be passed around among senior Ministers jostling for political space and perhaps power, after all the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is seen as the numero uno, next only to the Prime Minister. Also the fact that it handles the country’s internal security, makes it all the more important to focus on allowing the concern Minister to fulfill the task set out. After the Mumbai blast, when the then in-charge Shivraj Patil was forced out, Chidambaram who was the Finance Minister had to be roped in to bring back the country’s security as a priority agenda for the UPA government. At that time it was quite obvious that Chidambaram was quite happy with the Finance job and was seen as a person not inclined to look after internal security. However he did take up the duty assigned to him.
Since taking over, the MHA under Chidambaram has transformed into a more orderly and efficient unit. Coming to the decision of the Prime Minister and the Congress President to make the job switch from Home to Finance for Chidamabaram, perhaps the reason will be found in the difficult economic situation that the country is faced with now. And probably Chidambaram is the only person who can deliver and repair the economic situation just as he was able to turnaround the Home Ministry. It is also indicative of the concern in Congress circles about the negative impact inflation and other economic woes will have on the political fortunes of the party with General Election not far off. As such the rationale could have been to sacrifice Chidamabram for the more immediate task of reversing the country’s economy from the present trouble that it is in i.e. to restore the confidence of foreign investors, tame inflation and ensure the return of high economic growth.
Coming to the new boss of the MHA, much will be expected of Sushil Kumar Shinde as he will have to keep up with what his predecessor has achieved so far. Actually there is some criticism on the rationale for giving Shinde the HM portfolio when he just had a disaster as Power Minister. As rightly pointed out, the Home Ministry is a crucial ministry concerned with National Security and anybody with lackluster attitude will be putting the security of the country and its citizens to risk. If Shinde has been given the plumb job as India’s Home Minister because of his Dalit background and loyalty to the Gandhi family, then this is very unfortunate. Hopefully, Shinde’s experience as a former Chief Minister of Maharashtra and now as a senior Minister in the UPA government will come in handy as he takes up the mantle of his new job. Those of us who have a stake in the Indo-Naga peace process, everyone will be keen to hear what the new Home Minister will have to say. Hopefully the momentum of the current parleys will not be disturbed by a change of guard at the top.
