Wobbly cabinet

It8217;s only in oil that Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh didn8217;t slip. Replacing Mani Shankar Aiyar with Murli Deora not only shows a welcome recognition of realpolitik 8212; Aiyar was a shade too enthusiastic about the problem-fraught Iran pipeline and a bit too keen to wrap a quasi-foreign policy around it. It also rewards a Congressman who8217;s an instinctive economic liberal, a sadly rare breed in the party. Deora8217;s elevation has political logic too: recognition of his years at the organizational rough end of the Maharashtra unit. A different and less healthy notion of fealty explains why senior cabinet ministers who deserved the chop have retained their jobs. This inability to punish non-performance even after a-year-and-a-half in power and with national politics by no means immune to churning shows the Congress leadership is still in denial about a fundamental question 8212; what governance record is the party going to present to voters.

Extensive data analysis of caste and community representation 8212; as 10 Janpath was reported to have undertaken before the reshuffle 8212; and the consequent fine-tuning of identity politics may not make up for a largely uninspiring cabinet. It would have been understandable had Ms Gandhi and Dr Singh been handicapped by having to choose from a small talent pool. But there are bright young Lok Sabha MPs who could have been given key economic portfolios. If their youth militated against a full cabinet appointment a typical and regressive Indian political wisdom, ministers of state with independent charge could have been an acceptable compromise. It is astonishing that the Congress leadership couldn8217;t pick even one minister under this criterion. So, although power is a ministry that can make or break India8217;s economic story, it is now under a sacked CM-turned-governor not really known for enthusiastic policy reform. Sushil Kumar Shinde may have needed rehabilitation. But the awful mess that is power policy 8212; there8217;s still no clarity on the Electricity Act8217;s implementation, for example 8212; surely was more of a priority.

Appointing a foreign minister should have been a priority as well. Natwar Singh may have shown the dangers of a foreign minister who refuses to accept the world has changed. But are we to understand that the PM8217;s and Ms Gandhi8217;s authority runs so low that any replacement is likely to create similar troubles? That the Congress 8212; we are assuming such a key post can8217;t go to an ally 8212; cannot trust anyone within its own ranks to read India8217;s foreign policy imperatives? That8217;s dispiriting, much like the cabinet reshuffle itself.