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Blend of youth and experience

Ministry-making after the United Progressive Alliance’s stupendous victory in the 15th general election carried the burden of unusually high expectations. Not surprisingly, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s second term was widely interpreted as a mandate for change and a style of governance that placed a premium on probity, efficiency, and progressive policies. Dr. Singh stressed as much in his first remarks to the newly elected MPs of the UPA. In the event, ther e is no major surprise in the Council of Ministers, which has turned out to be a blend of experience and youth. That the Prime Minister did not entirely have his way is evident from the public wrangling for berths leading to an inordinate delay in the constitution of the Ministry. Dr. Singh’s core team stands slightly modified with the exit of Arjun Singh, Hans Raj Bharadwaj and Shirvaj Patil, and the addition of S.M. Krishna and Mamata Banerjee. With his proven versatility, Pranab Mukerjee could have handled any Ministry and is bound to do full justice to Finance. After handling the Finance Ministry, P. Chidambaram has deftly handled the Home portfolio, visibly improving the internal security climate after the November 26, 2008, terror strikes in Mumbai. Mr. Krishna, who has no previous experience in the Ministry of External Affairs, will have his hands full dealing with escalating neighbourhood tensions, and is likely to lean on the Prime Minister for counsel. The allotment of Defence and Railways to A.K. Antony and Ms Banerjee respectively is along expected lines.

This election saw Rahul Gandhi in a pivotal role; he campaigned energetically for the Congress and drew up a daring yet successful road map for the party in Uttar Pradesh. Though Team Rahul has preferred field work to the trappings of office, the expectations around the “youth factor” have largely been fulfilled with a fair sprinkling of young faces in the ministerial squad. There are, however, glaring regional imbalances. Uttar Pradesh, from where the Congress won as many as 21 seats, is unrepresented at the Cabinet level. Andhra Pradesh, which yielded the party a bounty of 33 seats, has a lone Cabinet Minister. As against this, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh, where the Congress was routed, have been rewarded with more than their share of ministerial berths. Tamil Nadu’s clout is evident in the nine ministries it has bagged, while another nine have gone to election-bound Maharashtra. The inclusion of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilas Rao Deshmukh, who was summarily removed after the Mumbai terror attacks, was a surprise factor explained by the demands of the coming Assembly election and Maratha politics.

Corrections and Clarifications

The name of former Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil was misspelt as Shirvaj Patil, in "Blend of youth and experience" (Editorial, May 29, 2009).

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