India cabinet expansion gets a thumbs-up from business community

Indian president Pranab Mukherjee, centre left, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, centre right, pose with new cabinet ministers after a swearing-in ceremony at the Presidential Palace in New Delhi on Show more

NEW DELHI // Prime minister Narendra Modi dramatically expanded his council of ministers yesterday, in a move welcomed by business leaders as a way to jump start economy.

President Pranab Mukherjee swore in 21 new ministers, taking the size of Mr Modi’s council up to 66.

When Mr Modi had taken oath as prime minister in May, he had promised to keep his government small, taking office with only 45 ministers.

Even with this expansion, however, Mr Modi’s government has fewer ministers than that of the previous Congress-led government, which had 73 ministers when it was voted out this year.

Mr Modi’s council now includes 27 cabinet ministers and 39 junior ministers, or ministers of state.

The precise allocation of portfolios to the other new ministers is expected to be announced on Monday.

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) welcomed the expansion as a sign that the government will take bolder steps to revive the economy.

“The fact that some of the key portfolios will now have full-time cabinet ministers in charge will provide speed to decision-making in important sectors of the economy,” an Assocham spokesperson said.

Ajay Shriram, president of the Confederation of Indian Industry, another trade body, told the Press Trust of India that the expansion “sends out a strong signal that the government under prime minister Narendra Modi is serious about accelerating the reforms process”.

Among the most prominent new faces is Manohar Parrikar, the former chief minister of Goa.

Mr Parrikar is tipped to take over as India’s next defence minister.

The defence portfolio was being held, until now, by the veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley. Mr Jaitley had also held the finance portfolio, saddling him with perhaps the two most important ministries in the government.

Mr Jaitley will now be able to focus on the finance ministry.

Along with Mr Parrikar, three others were sworn in at cabinet rank, expected to take full charge of ministries before the next session of parliament begins on November 22.

Some of the ministers were picked to shore up support for the BJP in upcoming state elections.

One new minister of state, for instance, hails from the BJP unit in the newly created state of Telangana, to provide representation for his state in the council.

Three of the new ministers are from Bihar, a key electoral state that goes to polls next year. Some, such as JP Nadda, Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, have been chosen for their deep experience within the party machine or within parliamentary politics.

Yet another minister of state, Hansraj Ahir, was responsible for exposing a coal-mine allocation scam that occurred under the previous government.

Mr Ahir’s appointment was seen as further emphasis by Mr Modi that he will not tolerate corruption – a top election issue.

A tussle between the BJP and its ally, the Shiv Sena, played out amid the expansion.

Although the Shiv Sena had pitched for one of its leaders, Anil Desai, to be given a cabinet-rank ministerial post, he was only made a junior minister. Instead, Mr Modi inducted a Shiv Sena leader of his own choosing, Suresh Prabhu.

Mr Prabhu subsequently quit the Shiv Sena and joined the BJP, and he is rumoured to be in line for the railway ministry.

Seeing this move as a snub by Mr Modi, the Shiv Sena boycotted the oath-taking ceremony yesterday afternoon, and it recalled Mr Desai, who had just arrived at the Delhi airport, back to its headquarters in Mumbai.

The tension reflects a simmering discord between the two parties in Maharashtra, where the BJP and the Shiv Sena are in a power struggle to form a government after the assembly elections last month.

The BJP needs partners with 24 seats to be able to gain a majority in the assembly. Although the Shiv Sena – an old ally of the BJP – can provide these seats easily, it has threatened to break the partnership unless its leaders are given the ministries they want in the state government.

India pins economic hopes on reforms, b3