- The third successive term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi took off with the swearing-in ceremony held last week. The Union Ministry will have 72 members including the Prime Minister. The team chosen by PM Modi is an excellent mix of experienced administrators and seasoned leaders quite adept at handling challenging situations. Some of the names like ex-Chief Ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Manohar Lal Khattar, HD Kumaraswamy, Rajnath Singh, and of course, Modi himself have extensive administrative experience. As such, the composition of Team Modi 3.0 not only looks compact but also comes with tremendous administrative experience to boot. This should provide the new Union Government with some comfort to commence the innings.
PC: The Financial Express
- The moot point to ponder over here is whether the National Democratic Alliance partners will acquiesce to the BJP’s – especially Modi’s – pace, style, and mode of working. What will happen to the BJP’s pet projects like the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), One Nation One Election, and reservation/quotas/freebies that might lead to differences of opinions going ahead? Since the BJP lacks the majority of its own this time around, PM Modi knows he must bank on alliance partners like Telugu Desam Party and the Janata Dal (United) to push through with some of the contentious agenda. Will the extremely ambitious alliance partners let the Union Government function with the freedom that the PM is used to?
- Prima facie, the PM appears to be unfazed by the outcome of the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls where the BJP failed to garner the majority on its own. Make no mistake, he must have been disappointed with the eventual outcome since the war cry during the campaigning was to score more than 400 seats for the NDA. Yes, the NDA did cross the majority mark quite comfortably, but the ministry formation was perceived to be quite tricky anticipating the alliance partners’ expectations to garner a chunk of the flesh. Nonetheless, the BJP appears to have reigned in the alliance partners right now by holding all the major ministries to itself. Surprisingly, expectations of prime portfolios from the alliance partners have not come forth.
PC: India TV News
- Of course, it is understandable that the alliance partners will be expecting special allocation of funds for their respective states. The quid pro quo between the BJP and the partners vis-à-vis portfolios and fund allocation could be the reason for the mutual acceptance. What was not unmissable right through the swearing-in ceremony was the confident body language of PM Modi who went about conveying to the assembled gathering that nothing is lost, and the NDA is in full control of running the government. This business-as-usual disposition must have sent a positive note to the party rank and file as also the big conglomerates that everything is in control. The time will reveal how the Union Government will succeed in pushing ahead with the progress.
