Modi "trumps" economic reforms in favour of political exigency: "The Economist" on Cabinet expansion

Jayant Sinha

By Jag Jivan
In a sharply-worded commentary, the influential British weekly, “The Economist” (June 9) has said that the latest Cabinet expansion by the Prime Minister is likely to affect his reforms agenda. The heading of the commentary, published under the Indian politics section, is significant: “Modi-fication: A swelling cabinet suggests that politics trumps reform”.
Particularly singling out the transfer of minister of state for finance Jayant Sinha, whom the weekly calls “an outspoken former investment banker”, “The Economist” regrets, he “will now be a junior minister for civil aviation”, with “two BJP stalwarts with little background in finance will share his old post.”
Sinha, a graduate with distinction from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT-D) and the Harvard Business School graduate, is known for his strong views on economic reforms. A member of parliament from Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, he served top consultants McKinsey for 12 years.
One who helped Modi frame national economic policy, including organizing and hosting an international business leaders' forum with Modi in February 2014, investors had cheered when Sinha, a former venture capitalist, when he was appointed in the finance ministry.
Articles written by Sinha, such as 'Strategies That Fit Emerging Markets' in the “Harvard Business Review” and 'It is time for India to rein in its robber barons' in the “Financial Times” are said to have been widely quoted in scholarly works and are used as reference material in business schools.
Among reasons being cited for his removal from the post is his father, Yashwant Sinha's strong and repeated criticism of the Modi government. Recently, Yashwant Sinha, a former finance minister attacked the government on key policies and strategy, like its dealing with the Nuclear Suppliers Group or NSG.
“Controversial ministers were moved to less visible posts, and technocrats replaced by figures with more populist appeal”, the weekly notes, adding, "With three years to go before a general election, Modi’s choice raises questions about how much he will get done.” It quotes an editorial in the daily “Mint” to say: “Jumbo cabinets are not exactly the optimal solution to governance challenges.”
The commentary says, “India’s can-do prime minister, swept to victory two years ago promising minimum government with maximum governance”, and after he came to power, his incoming team only boasted “45 ministers and ministers of state, compared with the unwieldy 77-person crew fielded by the previous government.”
However, the commentary observes, “On July 5, following his second reshuffle since taking office, Modi’s council of ministers ballooned to an even wobblier 78”, insisting, “Running such a sprawling, untidy republic does require a lot of people.”
The commentary says, “Only 27 of Mr Modi’s ministers will actually sit with him in cabinet meetings. The other 50 are junior ministers, tied to specific portfolios.”
Quoting unnamed “Government loyalists”, “The Economist” says, they believe “the extra hands will make it easier to carry out the prime minister’s ambitious reform agenda.” However, it adds, “Many among India’s noisy chattering classes fear the opposite is true.”
“The Economist” wonders whether the Cabinet reshuffle has anything to do with the elections, which loom next year in several crucial states, including the biggest state Uttar Pradesh with some 200m people, the prosperous Punjab and Modi’s home state of Gujarat.”
The weekly points to how last year Modi's “Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP)” was defeated in the polls in Bihar, “a state famed for convoluted politics based on group affiliations such as caste and religion.”
This, it suggests, may have made Amit Shah, “the party’s grizzled president and Modi’s closest henchman, determined to widen the BJP’s appeal well beyond its base among higher-caste Hindus.”
“The party has made special efforts to woo Dalits, or “untouchables”, who make up a crucial bloc of voters in Uttar Pradesh. Small wonder that among 19 newly minted ministers, ten are from what India officially classifies as 'backward' castes, and three are from Uttar Pradesh”, “The Economist” notes.

Comments

Plastic burning in homes threatens food, water and air across Global South: Study

By Jag Jivan In a groundbreaking study spanning 26 countries across the Global South , researchers have uncovered the widespread and concerning practice of households burning plastic waste as a fuel for cooking, heating, and other domestic needs. The research, published in Nature Communications , reveals that this hazardous method of managing both waste and energy poverty is driven by systemic failures in municipal services and the unaffordability of clean alternatives, posing severe risks to human health and the environment.

Economic superpower’s social failure? Inequality, malnutrition and crisis of India's democracy

By Vikas Meshram India may be celebrated as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, but a closer look at who benefits from that growth tells a starkly different story. The recently released World Inequality Report 2026 lays bare a country sharply divided by wealth, privilege and power. According to the report, nearly 65 percent of India’s total wealth is owned by the richest 10 percent of its population, while the bottom half of the country controls barely 6.4 percent. The top one percent—around 14 million people—holds more than 40 percent, the highest concentration since 1961. Meanwhile, the female labour force participation rate is a dismal 15.7 percent.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

The greatest threat to our food system: The aggressive push for GM crops

By Bharat Dogra Thanks to the courageous resistance of several leading scientists who continue to speak the truth despite increasing pressures from the powerful GM crop and GM food lobby , the many-sided and in some contexts irreversible environmental and health impacts of GM foods and crops, as well as the highly disruptive effects of this technology on farmers, are widely known today.

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Epic war against caste system is constitutional responsibility of elected government

Edited by well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the book, “Bhed-Bharat: An Account of Injustice and Atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-18)” (available in English and Gujarati*) is a selection of news articles on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-2018) published by Dalit Shakti Prakashan, Ahmedabad. Preface to the book, in which Macwan seeks to answer key questions on why the book is needed today: *** The thought of compiling a book on atrocities on Dalits and thus present an overall Indian picture had occurred to me a long time ago. Absence of such a comprehensive picture is a major reason for a weak social and political consciousness among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. But gradually the idea took a different form. I found that lay readers don’t understand numbers and don’t like to read well-researched articles. The best way to reach out to them was storytelling. As I started writing in Gujarati and sharing the idea of the book with my friends, it occurred to me that while...

Would breaking idols, burning books annihilate caste? Recalling a 1972 Dalit protest

By Rajiv Shah A few days ago, I received an email alert from a veteran human rights leader who has fought many battles in Gujarat for the Dalit cause — both through ground-level campaigns and courtroom struggles. The alert, sent in Gujarati by Valjibhai Patel, who heads the Council for Social Justice, stated: “In 1935, Babasaheb Ambedkar burnt the Manusmriti . In 1972, we broke the idol of Krishna , whom we regarded as the creator of the varna (caste) system.”

From colonial mercantilism to Hindutva: New book on the making of power in Gujarat

By Rajiv Shah Professor Ghanshyam Shah ’s latest book, “ Caste-Class Hegemony and State Power: A Study of Gujarat Politics ”, published by Routledge , is penned by one of Gujarat ’s most respected chroniclers, drawing on decades of fieldwork in the state. It seeks to dissect how caste and class factors overlap to perpetuate the hegemony of upper strata in an ostensibly democratic polity. The book probes the dominance of two main political parties in Gujarat—the Indian National Congress and the BJP—arguing that both have sustained capitalist growth while reinforcing Brahmanic hierarchies.

'Restructuring' Sahitya Akademi: Is the ‘Gujarat model’ reaching Delhi?

By Prakash N. Shah* A fortnight and a few days have slipped past that grim event. It was as if the wedding preparations were complete and the groom’s face was about to be unveiled behind the ceremonial tinsel. At 3 PM on December 18, a press conference was poised to announce the Sahitya Akademi Awards .

Search This Blog