People's Democracy

CABINET  RESHUFFLE

  Perfecting Political Corruption

THE prime minister Vajpayee, in his current incarnation, has undertaken the eleventh Cabinet reshuffle (read expansion).  He has already promised that the 12th will take place shortly.  If we were to consider his earlier thirteen-month incarnation as the prime minister, then this will be his thirteenth Cabinet reshuffle (He, indeed, has a penchant for `thirteen' -- his first stint having lasted thirteen days). This is the largest number of Cabinet reshuffles that any Lok Sabha has seen. This thirteenth Lok Sabha has this (in)glorious distinction. 

The consequent size of the Cabinet is unprecedented in independent India. It reminds us of one of R.K. Laxman's earlier cartoons which shows a huge pandal erected  in a public park.  The caption reads: "No, this is not for a public meeting, but for a meeting of the full Cabinet!" 

The Cabinet is so large that the people have lost track of the numbers.  While the general belief is that there are 80 members of the cabinet, one private TV channel reports that it now has 83 members.  If we were to add other  positions (like the chairpersons of various commissions), which command ministerial status, then the member balloons to 130! 

This figure is much above what the Vajpayee government itself proposed regarding the size of ministries. Ignoring the recommendations of various commissions and of the CPI(M) that the size of the Cabinet should not be more than one-tenth of the size of the elected House (Lok Sabha or the State Assemblies),  the Vajpayee government has proposed to limit the size to 10 per cent of the combined strength of both the Houses.  Even under these limits, the size of the Union Cabinet should not exceed 79. Not only has it already, but more is promised!

All these Cabinet reshuffles have had little to do with improving the efficiency  and competence of governance. They are all part of sordid political maneouvres and horse-trading.  The objectives have been to keep this motley unprincipled coalition called the NDA together and within it to increase the levels of representation and control of government  by the RSS/BJP. 

To achieve this objective, Vajpayee is perfecting the art of political corruption. Ministerial berths are doled out in return for support  sans any principle or policy.  It may not be too long when a berth in the union cabinet  will command a specific commercial rate, like we are increasingly witnessing for a seat in the Rajya Sabha! Like  any other commodity, a berth in the union cabinet can also be bought and reserved in advance!!

In the meanwhile, a political rate, however, has already been fixed for a place in the Cabinet.  Support Vajpayee as the prime minister and acquire a Cabinet berth (irrespective of whether the party is a member of the NDA or not, like had been the case of Ajit Singh till recently) and you are allowed a share in the spoils of office and governance. 

Speaking of spoils of office, once again, corruption at high places surfaced when the MDMK's Minister of State for Finance, Gingee Ramachandran, had to resign following his involvement in the organised and well-oiled racket of transfer of income tax officers.  Following being caught red-handed, his political secretary, a political appointee, has been arrested.  The finance minister was forced to cancel 54 such transfers that were in the pipeline!  This Vajpayee government seems to have exceeded its own high targets of loot with the series of scams and scandals surfacing at rapid pace.  The Cabinet seems to be so busy making money that it has no time for governance.  A senior Congressman was reportedly bemoaning that though they ruled the country for nearly four decades, they never knew that there are so many ways of making money!  This Vajpayee government is, truly, blazing  new paths!!

The political corruption in the Cabinet reshuffle has seen Ajit Singh being shown the door given his public disagreement with some of Vajpayee government's policies concerning agriculture.  He was dispensable for the NDA since he alone is a member of the Lok Sabha belonging to his party.  His exit was, hence, of no consequence for the continuation of the central government. However, the withdrawal of support by fourteen of his MLAs to the BJP-BSP government in Uttar Pradesh reduces the state government's  majority.  The slender margin that the Mayawati government now has is bound to put greater pressures on Ms. Mayawati and to that extent, increase her dependence on the BJP.  Simultaneously, the  inclusion of Rajnath Singh, a known anti-Mayawati BJP leader, in the union cabinet is aimed at appeasing the upper castes (thakurs) in Uttar Pradesh and at the same time increasing, once again, the pressure on Ms. Mayawati. Hence, the Cabinet reshuffle is to serve the BJP's agenda of political maneuvering in Uttar Pradesh. 

Mamata Banerjee's news of induction and her subsequent refusal to join in ostensible protest against Vajpayee choosing another member  of her own party to be in the Cabinet without her permission belongs to the realm of farcical absurdity.  Clearly, behind the absence of Mamata Banerjee and Farooq Abdullah in the Cabinet lie facts of unresolved political bargaining. One national daily had sarcastically commented that the only  way Banerjee would be satisfied is by creating a separate cabinet minister post for Eastern Railways!

The more concerning aspect of this Cabinet reshuffle is  the induction  of VHP leaders into the Cabinet.  At least it should now be put to rest that this Vajpayee government seeks to distance itself from the shrill communal rabble rousing that the VHP does. Swami Chinmayananda, who has been in the forefront of the efforts by the BJP to transfer the entire acquired  land at Ayodhya to the VHP has been made a minister in the crucial Ministry of Home Affairs!

Similarly, Prahallad Singh Patel appointed as the Minister of State for Home was the one who recently sponsored the private members resolution in the Lok Sabha calling for a national law on banning cow slaughter.  Readers will recall that the BJP had issued a whip to all its MPs to be present to ensure the adoption of this private members bill. 

Clearly, it is not only that the BJP has strengthened itself vis-à-vis the other NDA partners in the Cabinet, but the real fact is the complete control of the RSS and all its tentacles on the reins of State power.  These inductions only confirm the fact that the RSS/BJP aim to raise communal temperatures in the run up to the forthcoming elections.  This is, indeed, ominous for the future of the secular democratic  character of the Indian republic.