Kya bolti tu?
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi promised a rigorous assessment exercise for newly-inducted ministers, warning that those in the government could also make way for others currently outside, holding out, in one stroke, hope for ministerial aspirants and discards while sending out a perform or perish signal.
I dislike the way a word like ‘discards’ is used. And I do not see the need for this school marmish attitude. True, ministers have to work, but everyone knows what will happen and who will decide what work is to be done.
If I may say so, this threat is also a signal to make way for those ‘Young Turks’ once they have rounded up enough people.
Kya bolta tu?
PM Manmohan Singh who was the first one to start the campaign for Rahul Gandhi to join the cabinet now says:
“He already has a big responsibility to bring in young people... he is doing more than sitting in a cabinet meet.”
All right. It means that running a recruiting agency is more important than managing a production unit that caters to a huge demand and is responsible to its ‘buyers’ who have made it what it is.
We are not yet done with Dr. Singh. Here he is explaining the current cabinet:
“It is not always possible to accommodate everyone. There are several factors like availability and talent and other considerations that played a role.”
Availability? If there are aspirants waiting, as Ms. Gandhi suggested, then there is plenty of availability. People will give their right and left arms and all limbs to get a ministerial berth.
Talent? Is our PM telling us there is lack of talent and he had to go looking for it with a fine toothcomb? And at the end he found a 72-year-old M. S. Gill to head the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports? The 72-year-old Dr Farooq Abdullah gets New and Renewable Energy; I don’t know what the heck it means, but I hope it is not something tongue-in-cheek. There are lots of such talents…
Other considerations? Would the PM care to explicate? It does not sound nice at all.
And in this great secular republic we must know the number of people inducted from which caste and community. Here goes:
- Brahmins - 9
- Other Upper Castes - 19
- Kshatriyas - 4
- Vaishyas - 4
- OBCs - 16
- Dalits - 10
- Tribals - 5
- Muslims - 4
- Sikhs - 3
- Christians - 3
- MBCs – 2
I wonder what category they are according to our PM – availability, talent or other considerations.
Kya main boloon!
A question of angles. I am putting this up because it is in the national newspaper. It should tell us just how well they are willing to exploit such situations:
Newly-inducted cabinet minister Farooq Abdullah is greeted by his daughter-in-law Payal Abdullah after the swearing-in ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Your title says all,the bargaining is done.What do you think of Mr Tharroor getting a ministery??The caste divide shows what we are
ReplyDeleteI have already said that Shashi Tharoor should have been utilised outside the cabinet. Now, as minister of state for external affairs, I do not know how much say he will have. I only hope not too much. Just living and working overseas does not make him an authority of foreign diplomacy!
ReplyDeleteI dislike the idea of pointing out these caste/religion figures.