Narendra Modi has been elected back in power and his recently-announced Cabinet 2.0 not only surprised the onlookers, but also thrilled them. The new set of ministers reflect Modi's foresight and vision. Main players from his previous cabinet, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj stepped down citing ill-health. Also the absence of some important names surprised everyone. J.P. Nadda, Suresh Prabhu, Radha Mohan Singh, Rajyavardhan Rathore, Jayant Sinha, Mahesh Sharma, Anupriya Patel, Anantkumar Hegde, Satyapal Singh and Maneka Gandhi were surprise omissions.
Amit Shah
Amit Shah's debut in the government has left the BJP looking for a new party president. While the new cabinet members have a wonderful term to look forward to, their time is marred by several challenges. Shah has been made Home Minister by Modi; a key choice indicating issues like the Supreme Court-mandated National Register of Citizens, Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and Kashmir are on the agenda. Modi's most-trusted lieutenant, seamless synergy can be expected between the PMO and the ministry on internal security and other key policy matters.
Throughout his career, Shah has come forward as a hardcore nationalist unflinching in his pursuit of whatever he perceives is national security. While his predecessor Rajnath Singh too subscribed to nationalist views, the two are quite different. In his first stint in the Modi government, he will strive to live up to his core beliefs not just because he is not known to backtrack, but also because his new role will be crucial for his career trajectory. His immediate challenge is to keep up the pressure on terrorists and ensure an incident-free Amarnath Yatra. Security and development are likely to be pushed in J&K ahead of assembly polls in October-November. His role will also bring clarity on how the Centre wants to address the issue of Article 35A.
Nirmala Sitharaman
Nirmala Sitharaman has now taken up the Ministry of Finance and Corporate Affairs. India's first full-time woman Finance Minister, her position is seen as a reward for handling the defence ministry and countering opposition on the Rafale deal issue with a marathon speech in the Parliament. She has an array of issues like concerns over economic slowdown and the non-banking financial companies crisis and preparing her first budget in front of her.
Rajnath Singh
Rajnath Singh will handle defence for the next five years and is expected to carry forward defence reforms, modernisation and acquisitions. As the country’s new ‘Raksha Mantri’, Singh will have his plate full. The myriad challenges range from tackling the collusive threat from China and Pakistan to bolstering India’s fledgling defence-industrial base to get out of the strategically-vulnerable position of being the world’s largest arms importer. An immediate priority will be to ensure the 15,00,000 strong armed forces get enough ammunition stocks to last 10 days of ‘intensive fighting’ or a fullblown war. Then, of course, the armed forces continue to suffer from critical shortages in submarines, fighters, helicopters, minesweepers, air defence, infantry weapons and night-fighting capabilities. The new minister will need to crack the whip to improve the tardy performance of DRDO as well as get the private sector to jump into defence production in a big way.
S Jaishankar
Former foreign secretary S Jaishankar has succeeded former minister Sushma Swaraj and is expected to play a crucial role in steering India past US-China and US-Russia frictions and help with the Prime Minister's vision of building alliances across the world. His domain knowledge is in dealing with China should help keep ties stable and improve cooperation. The first task on Jaishankar’s plate is to bring the US-India relationship back on track. Modi is deeply invested in this relationship but in the past few months, while the Indian government was in election mode, this has tanked.
Modi wants a possible roadmap for resolution by the time he meets US President Donald Trump at the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, later this month. US secretary of state Mike Pompeo is expected to meet Jaishankar when he drops by New Delhi en route to Osaka on June 26. In the interim, officials from different ministries will be brought together to work out a negotiating plan. The second will be a focus on the neighbourhood as Modi will be making his first trip in the region. He will be in Maldives on June 8 and in Sri Lanka on June 9. These visits will be significant because they will be used to signal a renewed focus in the Indian Ocean Region and India’s immediate neighbourhood. Lastly, Modi’s upcoming visit to the SCO summit and a possible meeting with Pakistani PM Imran Khan will be treated as important. Post Balakot, the Indian stand on Pakistan will be keenly watched. This will also demonstrate how Jaishankar and NSA Ajit Doval team up to deal with challenges that intersect foreign and security policies.
Piyush Goyal
Piyush Goyal will handle Railways, Commerce & Industry. He is also tasked with revitalising investment in economy and trade. Goyal who took charge of the railway ministry termed it a “homecoming”. Goyal, who had created a record by eliminating unmanned crossings from all broad gauge lines during his first tenure and brought down accident figures to the lowest ever, said the government will try to improve the experience of Indian Railways both in the passenger and freight segments.
Nitin Gadkari
Nagpur MP Nitin Gadkari is responsible for Road Transport and MSME. The additional charge comes on the back of his performance in building highways, where the pace of award and construction increased. He is known for a can-do approach that helped get stalled road projects moving previously.
Smriti Irani
Former textile minister, Smriti Irani is a fiery minister and one of the star ones in Modi's team. In her second term, the Amethi hero also got Women and Child Development. She is expected to deal with key issues, including fixing anganwadi programme, malnutrition targets, and getting anti-trafficking bill passed by the Lok Sabha. She will continue the textiles ministry's focus on linking weavers and craftsmen with buyers.
Ravi Shankar Prasad
Ravi Shankar Prasad, after his win from Patna Sahib, has returned with Law & Justice, and IT. He also has the task of promoting the Postal Bank while pursuing judicial reforms in law and justice. Regulation tech platforms, boosting local manufacturing of electronic goods are also priorities.
Prakash Javadekar
Envuronment and I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar has to build on his work in making green clearances more transparent and faster. He will take up where he left on global climate change negotiations and work on issues relating to sustainable forestry in the light of faster urbanisation. Top priority will be tackling air pollution and meeting India's national climate change targets.
Narendra Singh Tomar
Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs minister Narendra Singh Tomar has to work closely with all states to implement schemes such as PM-Kisan. Within the Parliament, he will need to work across the aisles despite NDA's big majority.
Ramesh Pokhriyal
Debutante Cabinet Minister and former Uttarakhand chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal has the chance to redeem his image in a crucial ministry. High on his agenda is the revision of curriculum, regulating private higher education and greater autonomy for top state universities.
Two key ministries see restructuring
The Centre restructured two key ministries - agriculture and water resources. Two ministries dealing with water-related issues were merged into a single ministry of ‘Jal Shakti’ while a new ministry of ‘animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries’ was hived off from the agriculture ministry. The ‘Jal Shakti’ ministry will oversee water resources, river development, Ganga rejuvenation and drinking water. Former MoS (agriculture) Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has been given the responsibility of the Jal Shakti ministry with cabinet rank.
Begusarai MP Giriraj Singh will head the ministry of ‘animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries’ while the agriculture ministry was allocated to Narendra Singh Tomar, who will continue to hold charge of rural development and panchayati raj.
