Boys can be men

On the eve of a Parliament session preemptively billed as the 8216;stormiest8217; in the UPA8217;s tenure and at a point in that tenure w...

On the eve of a Parliament session preemptively billed as the 8216;stormiest8217; in the UPA8217;s tenure and at a point in that tenure when the government looks listless and besieged, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tinkered. Friday8217;s big news was that a reluctant minister was shifted to another ministry and with the PM himself keeping the perch warm, Shibu Soren need not fret. This is disappointing. A moment that could have been the opportunity for the PM to assert his prerogative and a flourish, and for his government to send out a message of renewed purpose, was lost. Whatever the reasons for the prime ministerial reticence, the message sent out by Friday8217;s uncertain shuffle speaks of a government so afraid to ruffle the brittle egos within that it shirks any bold strokes.

This reshuffle could have been the occasion to send out a firm signal that the Congress-led UPA will invest in the future, not the past. It is true that no such exercise begins on a clean slate. It must necessarily take on board the claims of loyalists and the old guard. There will be the inescapable nods to what has been. But, at the same time, a reshuffle or expansion must be mostly about shaking up the older unproductive habits and routines; it must be about opening up the ministry to new talents and efficiencies. Why didn8217;t the PM, for instance, underline his government8217;s focus on infrastructure, much hyped, but little-implemented so far? He could have done so by elevating a young and energetic MP as minister with a crucial portfolio. Why cannot the Employment Guarantee Scheme, to which Sonia Gandhi has attached much of her own political capital, be given a high-profile minister, whose task it will be to ensure that the shiny new scheme does not run into the old deadends? With so many young talents adorning the Congress benches8212;the personable sons, Rahul Gandhi, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot, to name just a few8212;the Congress need not even have searched too hard.

This was the opportunity to revitalise the Cabinet and to make it battle ready, not just for the impending skirmishes in Parliament but also for the bigger electoral battle ahead. After all, though the government has a tenure to complete, past experience and the governing coalition8217;s constantly shifting balance ensure that an election always looms. Having frittered away one moment, perhaps the PM will seize the next.