Social engineering, Performance, Elections impacted expansion

New Delhi: Three factors, social engineering ,past performance and, ensuing elections , have impacted the expansion of Union cabinet effected on Tuesday. Care has been also taken to see that women members are not left much behind..Professionalism and administrative experiences have also been the guide.

While a cancer specialist from Maharashtra, Subhash Bhamre has been inducted into the council as minister of state., another professional, a noted journalist, M J Akbar, has also found berth.

Uttar Pradesh where election is due next year appears to have been also in Prime Minister’s Modi’n mind before the selection. Expectedly, three new faces including two women have found place in the cabinet expansion.

Two other states, Punjab and Uttarakhand, which are also election-bound have not been ignored either.,

Since caste mattes a lot in Uttar Pradesh, Modi has seen that Brahmin, backward and scheduled castes have been given representation.

Three members of parliament from the state have been appointed as ministers of state. While one of them, Mahendra Nath Pandey, is a Brahmin, the other two, Krishna Raj and Anupriya Patel, are Dalit and backward, respectively. Induction of Patel has given rise to speculation that her Apna Dal would be merged into the ruling BJP

As election will be also held in Uttarkhand next year,a Dalit leader from the state, Ajay Tamta, has found berth. For the same reason, S S Ahulwalia from Punjab has not been left out. Punjab is one of the five states which will go to the polls in 2017.

With the inclusion of three members from U P, the number of of ministers from the state has gone up to 11.

Modi has not only cared for Dalits in the state, he has also done so for the community in Mahashtra. A member of the Republican Party of India, a BJP ally in that state, who belongs to the community, Ramdas Atawale, has found favour.

Assam which backed the BJP to the hilt for the first time and helped it form government in the state this year was not ignored by the Prime Minister either. Rajendra Gohen will represent the state in the Union council of ministers. Other states including Rajasthan have also got due representation. To help the party do better in the next election in Delhi than what it had done in the last , Vijay Goel, has been provided a berth.

There were speculations before the expansion that several state ministers will get elevation in view of better performances. However, only one of them, Prakash Javedkar, has been promoted and given cabinet rank.

Also read: Cabinet expansion: 19 new faces join the ministry