Ideally and for the sake of continuity in terms of policies, programmes and their implementation, a council of ministers should remain unchanged for a full term of five years. This also presupposes that serious thought goes into the formation of a ministry. But the actual scenario is quite different. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is believed to be toying with the idea of a cabinet revamp and hints are that it could happen in the first week of July. As less than a year is left for Parliament polls, this is rather the time to start winding up the performance of the five-year term and completing implementation of major programmes. In a few months’ time, the present dispensation will shift gear to a lame-duck mode. However, the Prime Minister may have his own reasons to effect a revamp. It is likely that this is done with an eye on the upcoming assembly polls in states like MP, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Telangana before the end of this year. Thereafter, in another four months, the general elections or parliament polls will take place. The PM’s plan to club maximum assembly polls along with parliament polls was a welcome move but this has not materialized, just as several other reforms have been in the pipeline for long.
It must be admitted that the present cabinet has strong and experienced ministers manning key portfolios like home, defence, finance and external affairs. While Nirmala Sitharaman is not a seasoned politician, she too has acquitted herself well by not landing the national economy into a critical phase. Even as the common man is not benefited as such, India is today a steadily rising economic power, to which the main credit should go to its large army of power-packed young population. Mention must also be made of the roads and highways sector that is showing exemplary growth under the stewardship of Nitin Gadkari. This, rather, is the main credit for the “functional” Modi government in the public eye. The PM should best know who performs better and who doesn’t. But, more than this, the yardstick for inclusion in or exclusion from the cabinet or council of ministers is political or driven by other considerations, like representations to states, communities etc. The last cabinet reshuffle was done in July 2021, when 12 ministers were removed and 17 new faces inducted. A change in the law ministry too took place later. A cabinet reshuffle midway through the five-year-term, as Modi did, might be required from the performance point of view. But, a reshuffle at this late hour might not serve much purpose in terms of service delivery.