Filling in the blanks

The induction of four more ministers on Monday makes Atal Behari Vajpayee's ministry the largest the country ever had. It has even beaten P.V. Narasimha Rao's jumbo cabinet. It is something of a coincidence that just last week, this newspaper had carried a report highlighting the fact that many of the newly-sworn ministers were jobless and that they had not even been given proper offices and residences. Unlike Rao, who had only competing claims from fellow partymen to tackle, Vajpayee has the unenviable task of fulfilling the aspirations of nearly two dozen parties represented in the National Democratic Alliance. Seen against this backdrop, the size of his ministry may not raise eyebrows, although it certainly does not square with Finance Minister Yashwant Sin-ha's call for scaling down the bureaucracy and cutting governmental costs. All the same, Monday's expansion was essentially a BJP affair, the only exception being the inclusion of Akali Dal's Sukhdeo Singh Dhindsa as a Cabinet minister. It also showshow much the BJP values its alliance with the Akali Dal, although that party has just two seats in the present House. It knows only too well that its friendship with the Akali Dal is crucial in states like Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan.

Obviously, the Prime Minister does not subscribe to the view that both the legislative and organisational leadership of the BJP in UP are responsible for its poor showing in the last Lok Sabha elections. In other words, he perceives Rajnath Singh, who heads the UP unit of the party, differently from Kalyan Singh, who was asked to quit. The BJP's desire not to lose the upper hand in Bihar, where the Janata Dal (U) has at least two prominent leaders with chief ministerial ambitions, is seen in the induction of C.P. Thakur as a Cabinet minister. The fact that the Bhumihar caste, to which he belongs, has over the years emerged as one of the strongest supporters of the BJP has played an important role in his elevation. The only notable aspect of Arun Shourie's appointment is thatit took so long. Shourie will definitely be an asset to the government, particularly when it has to be defended in the House with facts and figures, as he did on several occasions in the past.

Politically, what is more significant than all this is the manner in which Vajpayee reallocated some of the portfolios. Communications Minister Ramvilas Paswan had let it be known that he desired to have the new Information Technology department under his wings. But that Vajpayee had different ideas was demonstrated by his bringing in Pramod Mahajan to head the IT department. It is a different matter whether such a step is at all necessary, in view of the strides the sector has made without any regulatory authority so far. This newspaper had in the past expressed fears that regulations would only create more bureaucrats, stifle initiative and, ultimately, drive the IT professionals to a corner, if not to the more hospitable climes of, say, the Silicon Valley. The shifting of JD(U)'s Nitish Kumar to the Agricultureministry should be seen as the BJP's assertion of its predominant position in the alliance it has forged in Bihar. Now that the imbalances in the ministry have been set right -- although under-representation for the Muslims remains a thorn in the NDA's flesh -- Vajpayee should settle down to the task at hand that of governance.

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