What The Reshuffle Tells Us About Sonia’s Calculations
Author:
First published in Sanctuary Asia,
Vol. 31
No. 7,
July 2011
Let's be clear. This is not a cabinet reshuffle. It is a Congress-Trinamool reshuffle. The allies have been left out - especially the beleaguered DMK and the much-too-undisturbed Nationalist Congress Party.
If the reshuffle is only about the Congress, then it is not really about shifting out non-performers or improving the image of the UPA. Two key ministers, Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel, both non-performers, remain unshakeable.
The reshuffle then is about improving the image of Sonia Gandhi, and possibly Manmohan Singh, since one depends on the other. It is about ensuring that the remaining three years of the UPA are used to lay the groundwork for Rahul Gandhi's grand entry as PM. Read the full report here.
Source: R Jagannathan, First Post.
