By Swati Walia
CHANDIGARH : The Union Cabinet's reshuffle and expansion on Sunday is all about maintaining cast and community balance in the government with an eye on the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.This is part of BJPs game plan to expand its foot hold in the other states particularly the southern states.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems to be working on a political agenda and aimed all its programmes on popular slogans including Housing for All, doubling farmers income by 2022. BJP sees hope in clean India programme by 209.
The expansion and reshuffle has taken place when only about two years are left for the next General Elections in 2019. The government is on the backfoot on key issues of unemployment and economic slowdown.
Dharmendra Pradhan, Piyush Goyal, Nirmala Sitharaman, and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi have been elevated to Cabinet rank with an eye on the general elections. Modi understood to have told the party workers to focus on skilled youth and take the government achievements to people before the elections. BJPs manifesto had also talked of preparing the world's largest workforce and developing India as a knowledge powerhouse.
Modi has been laying thrust of efficiency of water use in agriculture and expanding the country's irrigation potential. Despite efforts by the BJP-led government, the country's first river-linking project between Ken and Betwa rivers has not been unveiled so far.
Rejuvinating Ganga is an ambitious programme of PM Modi who is MP from Varanasi. In its manifesto, the BJP had promised to ensure the cleanliness, purity and uninterrupted flow of the Ganga on priority.
With the government keen to improve the country's global standing in sports, the portfolio has now been given to Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (retd), a silver medallist shooter in the Athens Olympics.
The government is also making efforts to improve India's rankings in ease of doing business. The Labour Ministry has seen a change with Santosh Kumar Gangwar replacing Bandaru Dattatreya.
Former Home Secretary Raj Kumar Singh, who has been given independent charge of the power portfolio, is expected to continue the work done by his predecessor Piyush Goyal.
Singh has also been allocated new and renewable energy and has the onerous task of meeting India's ambitious targets of developing renewable energy.
Housing and urban development portfolio, in which decisions and performance impact the vast urban middle class, has been assigned to experienced former diplomat Hardeep Singh Puri.
The ministry has a critical role to effectively manage India's growing urbanisation and in achieving goals such as Housing for All by 2022 and Clean India.
Puri will take forward the work done by M. Venkaiah Naidu before he was chosen to contest the vice presidential poll. He is the third member from the Sikh community in the NDA government.
Former bureaucrat K.J. Alphons Kannanthanam has been given independent charge of tourism, a sector that has immense potential to create jobs and boost revenues.
The induction of Kannanthanam, elevation of Nirmala Sitharaman as Defence Minister, and appointment of Anant Kumar Hegde as Minister of State for Skill Development is being seen as a signal of the BJP reaching out to south India where the party is relatively weak.
The party had earlier chosen Venkaiah Naidu, who hails from Andhra Pradesh, as its vice presidential candidate.
Hegde hails from Karnataka which will go to the polls in the first half of next year and the BJP hopes to form government in the state.
With Kannanthanam, the Modi government has representation now from Kerala and also from the Christian community.
The BJP has big ambitions in Kerala and wants to form government there in the next elections.
The expansion and induction saw the BJP leadership picking up members of the ministerial team from diverse communities and states.
Gajendra Singh Shekhawat belongs to Rajasthan and hails from the Rajput community, Satya Pal Singh hails from the Jat community in Uttar Pradesh, Virendra Kumar hails from Madhya Pradesh and belongs to Dalit community, Ahswini Kumar Choubey and Shiv Pratap Shukla belong to Brahmin community and hail from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, respectively.
Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan will go to polls by the end of 2018.