oppn parties Expanding The Council Of Ministers

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  • Supreme Court questions the continuing relevance of two-child norms. The Court observed that falling fertility rates have weakened the population-control rationale behind laws disqualifying people with more than two children from contesting local body elections. It referred the issue to a larger Bench for consideration
  • Supreme Court declines to shift Tirupati laddu case outside Andhra Pradesh. The Court rejected a plea seeking transfer of the trial, despite arguments that political statements by Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister could affect the fairness of proceedings
  • Supreme Court transfers Azam Khan's fresh ED bail plea to Allahabad High Court. The apex court declined to consider the Samajwadi Party leader's bail request in a fresh Enforcement Directorate case and directed that it be listed before a division Bench of the High Court on November 16
  • Two killed in Delhi building collapse; contractor booked. Two bodies were recovered after a building collapsed in Chawri Bazaar. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the contractor had been booked and the concerned junior and assistant engineers suspended
  • Uttar Pradesh voter rolls show a 2.4-crore discrepancy. A difference of approximately 2.4 crore names has been reported between the state's panchayat and rural Assembly voter lists. The Election Commission has ordered the two sets of rolls to be matched
  • Gujarat announces 3% dearness allowance hike. The state government announced a three-percentage-point increase in dearness allowance for government employees and pensioners ahead of Diwali
  • Sensex and Nifty post their strongest single-day gains in months. The Sensex surged 2,008.61 points, or 2.60%, to close at 79,310.01, while the Nifty 50 climbed 576 points, or 2.40%, to 24,536.60. Financial and automobile stocks led the rally, supported by falling crude prices and renewed foreign investor buying
  • Maaya Rajeshwaran reaches WTA-level quarter-final. The 17-year-old Indian defeated Poland's Weronika Falkowska 6-4, 6-3, becoming the first Indian woman since Sania Mirza in 2012 to reach a quarter-final at a WTA Tour-level singles event
  • Tanvi Patri reaches Youth Olympics badminton final. The 15-year-old defeated Japan's Yuzuno Watanabe in the semi-final, assuring India of a medal and becoming the first Indian badminton player to reach the girls' singles final at the Youth Olympics
  • India beat Pakistan 3-2 in SAFF Championship. India defeated Pakistan in a closely contested match, having led 3-0 before conceding two late goals. The victory was reported as a significant result for India's second-string side
  • India beat Japan 4-1 to win a record sixth Asian Champions Trophy. India recovered from an early deficit to defeat Japan in the final at Mohali, extending its record as the tournament's most successful men's team
  • The Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre and the Election Commission on a petition challenging Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which grants the CEC and Election Commissioners protection from legal proceedings for acts performed in their official duties. The petition argues that such blanket immunity could leave citizens without an effective remedy for alleged wrongdoing by the Commission
  • The Supreme Court told voters whose names were deleted from Delhi's draft electoral rolls not to be apprehensive about seeking re-enrolment through Form 6, after the Election Commission assured it that such applicants would not be prosecuted merely because their names had appeared in earlier rolls
  • Congress leader Rahul Gandhi opened the party's campaign for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections with an Insaaf rally in Sangrur, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's home district, accusing the AAP government of failing to control drugs, gangster violence and corruption. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge outlined six commitments, including a drug-free Punjab, protection of farmers, employment for young people and action against corruption
  • Rahul Gandhi accused the AAP government of running Punjab through a remote control from Delhi and questioned Bhagwant Mann's ability to tackle drug abuse, making personal allegations about the Chief Minister's conduct during their time together in Parliament
Stock markets on fire due to US results, Sensex gains 2008 points to reach its highest level in 8 months
oppn parties
Expanding The Council Of Ministers

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2021-07-06 11:41:30

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

The buzz about an imminent expansion and reshuffle of the Union council of ministers grows by the day. There are all indications that Prime Minister Modi will induct new faces, drop some laggards and change the ministries of others. This is necessary as the term of the government is already close to the half way mark. Further, the size of the cabinet is much smaller than allowed under the rules. Many ministers are handling multiple portfolios which obviously negatively impacts performance, more so in the times of the pandemic. Further, there are many aspiring candidates in the BJP and some old and new allies have to be accommodated. The delay is causing uncertainty as work comes to a standstill when ministers are not sure of their position.

Since apart from PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah (and maybe BJP chief J P Nadda and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat) not many are privy to the decision making process, the only signals come from related activities. Like, for instance, when the investigating agencies are handed out a list of potential candidates for background check and when party leaders and allies start lobbying. Other storng indications are crucial think tank meetings, one of which is being held today at the PM's residence. The big signal came today when several new governors were appointed and existing ones were transferred. The government has to strike regional and caste balance in the cabinet and gubernatorial appointments help in removing some leaders who might have lost out.

The buzz is also strong about a BJP-Shiv Sena patch up in Maharashtra and observers say that it is one of the reasons why the cabinet expansion is being kept on hold. It was rumoured that since the Sena was insisting on holding on to the chief minister's chair, Devendra Fadnavis was being sounded out for a cabinet berth.  But things do not seem to have worked out as yet. Sarbanand Sonowal, replaced as chief minister of Assam by Himata Biswa Sarma, will definitely become a cabinet minister. Jyotiraditya Scindia is likely to get a berth. The JD(U) is also likely to get a berth and it is possible that Pashupati Kumar Paras of the divided LJP might get late Ram Bilas Paswan's seat.

The Prime Minister must induct a cabinet of full strength and allot one ministry to one person. The political, regional and caste considerations have to be looked into and the alliance dharma has to be maintained but if possible, some former bureaucrats, technocrats and experts, even if they are not in any of the political parties that make up the NDA, must also be inducted. It is often seen that policies are implemented faster and better when ministers are not restricted by the narrow and inbuilt political view of things. S Jaishankar as the Minister of External Affairs is an example of that. The cabinet needs more such persons. 

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