Kerala and UP were factored in. It may be the turn of Assam and Bengal next.
Kerala sends 20 members to the Lok Sabha. In the 2009 general elections, the Congress and its allies won 16 of these 20. Of these 16, five MPs were made minister in May 2009 — and the state got its sixth minister on Wednesday.
Not bad going.
The reason is obvious. Kerala is to have Assembly elections in a few months. The state is a fruit ripe for the Congress-led United Democratic Front’s plucking. And unless the party messes it up at the last minute by selecting wrong candidates and infighting, all present trends — by-election results and local body elections held last year — indicate Kerala will get a Congress-led government.
It is this plot that the Union Cabinet reshuffle seeks to take forward. Every minister from Kerala, barring one — Mullapally Ramachandran — has been given a leg up. The change in the status of ministers aims to consolidate UDF gains and make sure there is party unity like never before.
Take the allies. It is India’s worst kept secret that UPA constituent Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) nominee E Ahamed, who had been minister of state in the ministry of external affairs from May 2004 until the end of UPA-1’s tenure, was deeply unhappy in the ministry of railways under Mamata Bannerjee.
In his first stint, Ahamed was (virtually) minister for the Gulf states, and that charge helped him not just in his overseas constituency, but also back home in Kerala. He came into the limelight during efforts towards the successful release of three Indian workers kidnapped in Iraq in 2004. Proficient in Arabic, he had made televised appearances on key local channels to appeal for the release of the three Indians. By shifting Ahamed, the Congress has a satisfied, rather than a dissatisfied, ally.
Caste and community politics are behind the shifting and elevation of the other ministers. Like defence minister and senior-most Kerala leader in government A K Antony, K V Thomas is a Catholic. Unlike Antony, he is not an atheist, but a practising Christian. The Catholic church in Kerala is a well-organised, well-oiled mobilising machinery and Thomas’s elevation — from a mere minister of state he has become a minister with independent charge of consumer affairs, food & public distribution — is seen as an honour for the community.
Similarly, Vayalar Ravi’s performance in the ministry of overseas Indians may prompt some to scratch their heads. But he is an Ezhava, a member of the powerful toddy-tapper community, which represents 10 per cent of the population of Kerala. He has been elevated to Cabinet rank — with the additional portfolio of civil aviation — for the same reason: To keep the community happy. Mullapally Ramchandran has been retained as minister of state for home.
The cherry on the sundae is K C Venugopal, who denies he was given ministership on community considerations. Venugopal is a Nair, and the Nair Service Society is an important and influential Hindu community in Kerala.
In theory apolitical, the community has had differences with the Congress on policies on reservation (the community believes the poor among the socially advantaged communities must also get the benefits of reservation). But Venugopal is an uncontroversial and popular young politician, and a first time MP. He has been given an important portfolio: Power. The Nairs believe they have got their man in.
This reshuffle has seen almost all the MPs from the Congress elected from Uttar Pradesh promoted. Uttar Pradesh, which holds an election in 2012, now has two Cabinet-rank ministers, Salman Khurshid and Sriprakash Jaiswal, one minister of state (MoS) with independent charge for steel in Beni Prasad Verma and three junior ministers, Jitin Prasad, Pradip Jain Aditya and R P N Singh.
Besides, Congress MP P L Punia already holds Cabinet rank as chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes. The number of representatives from Uttar Pradesh in the Cabinet has increased from five to six after yesterday’s reshuffle in UPA-2, while there were only three ministers, two Cabinet and one MoS from the state in UPA-1.
Khurshid’s elevation is crucial, keeping in mind that he is the best-known Muslim face of the party in the state, where the Congress returned with a bang in the last Lok Sabha election with minority support, winning 22 seats. Khurshid had also served as Pradesh Congress Committee chief in the state in the past.
Jaiswal, who has also been elevated to Cabinet rank, belongs to the Vaishya community, which has a sizeable population in Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP is on the wane. Beni Prasad Verma, who was once in the Samajwadi Party, belongs to the powerful OBC Kurmi community, which has a significant presence in several state constituencies.
What is surprising is that other states that are soon to be poll bound like Assam and West Bengal have not seen similar movements. No doubt the PM will address this in the next phase of the Cabinet reshuffle.
