Narendra Modi has succeeded for the moment in having a small government. Modi has been consistently saying that he will give " Minimum government.Maximum government ".
He has given a reasonably small cabinet. But it can be smaller definitely. However, there are now many worries on whether the Cabinet has the talent and shrewdness in meeting the erected and existing challenges.
There are good signs that Narendra Modi will settle for a small cabinet. In the last 30 years, particularly since the fall of the Congress government in 1996, we have had gigantic cabinets. The maximum limit set by law is that the Government will not have more Ministers than 11% of the combined strength of the two houses of Parliament.
To accommodate a gigantic cabinet, Ministries had to be broken up. For example, the Ministry of Energy has now become Power and Non-conventional energy. Industry has become Ministry of industry, Ministry for small scale industry, etc. Agriculture has split into different Ministries. Is this all necessary when the actual activity of government has come down?
After 10 years of un-challenged rule, Congress stares at defeat. Defeat in politics is a certainty for everyone . The British politician Enoch Powell famously said “All politics ends in failure unless they are cut off midstream at a happy juncture, because that is the nature of politics and life “. There is a lesson for Rahul Gandhi in this statement. Whatever excuses are made for Congress and Rahul Gandhi, blame is at his door. Along with Enoch Powell, Rahul Gandhi should also remember that the American president John Kennedy said “Victory has many fathers and defeat is an orphan”.
There is no doubt that BJP has revived itself across the country. Whether BJP will form a Government or not, we will know by May 16, 2014 and whether it will a stable government or it will be the kind of 14-day Vajpayee government in 1996. But whatever the prospects of the BJP across India, We BJP will face a severe test in Andhra Pradesh, in both regions of Andhra and Telengana.
There have been a host of complaints to the Election Commission of India and the Election Commission of Andhra Pradesh regarding two major violations of the entire process. The State Election Commission is supposed to be the eyes and ears of the Election Commission of India, which is based in Delhi. Here we find that both the ECI and the Andhra Pradesh Election Commission have ignored the frauds being committed don’t he election process.
The major failure of Dr. Manmohan Singh's government has been inflation and the in-ability to create jobs. Inflation can be controlled since there are clearly identified economic policies Which can cool down an economy. The policies might be painful, but they work.
Ever since the election process has started, I have had a close and direct opportunity to see how the electoral process works. No doubt, on May 16, the Election Commission will pat itself and congratulate itself for conducting elections to the largest democracy in the world.
Consequences of TRS ( Telengana Rashtra Samithi) win in Telengana.
The elections to the Telengana are over. Results will be out soon. By all accounts, the TRS looks to win. Naturally, there will be different results for various people.
This is purely speculation and it might never come to pass that Narendra Modi will become Prime Minister. But if he does form a government, the first problem will be his Cabinet formation.
Dr. Pentapati Pullarao is an Economist, Columnist and Public Affairs Activist and has contributed over 650+ articles to periodicals and newspapers in the last 15 years. Pentapati Pullarao is also the President of Forum on Social & Human Rights and a Life Member of Indian Society for International Law, New Delhi. Dr. Pentapati Pullarao had been quite instrumental in taking up the cause of displaced people and actively represented to government on the need to amend Land Acquisition Act of 1984.