While the GovernmentofIndia and PrimeministerModi have been taking steps to revive the moribund Indian economy, alarmingsignals have come that indicate that the European Community, Japan and China are now ona downward spiral. Strong indications have also come out that the Chinese economy is also slowing down to over-investment and excessive investment in their infra- structure.
One immediate consequence of this cabinet expansion is that Arun Jaitley has automatically lost his position as being the only Adviser of Modi. New Ministers Manohar Parikker, Suresh Prahbu, Birendra Chowdhury are not followers of Jaitley and they are direct selections of Modi. The inclusion of independent political entities in the Cabinet automatically means that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will listen to them.
Instead of going into names of Ministers, their castes and regional backgrounds, it might be better to have a general over-view of the positives of Cabinet expansion and the limitations that Narendra Modi faced. Barely 5 months have passed and Prime Minister Modi had to go in for a major re-shuffle of his cabinet. There is nothing wrong for a Prime minister in a parliamentary system of government to re-shuffle or expand his cabinet. It is obvious that in the last 5 months some weaknesses have become obvious in the functioning of the government. The existing cabinet was in-adequate both in numbers and quality to deal with the problems.
Modi, Indira Gandhi and “Imposed“ Chief Ministers; The electoral victories in Haryana and Maharashtra of BJP has had two consequences. All the critics of Narendra Modi had to shut up. Then the second more controversial consequence is that Modi has become an all powerful political figure in India and therefore can appoint anyone he likes as Chief Ministers. The selection of two total novices as Chief Ministers of Haryana and big economic state of India Maharashtra has caused shock and an anticipation that things will definitely go wrong. Who are Chief Ministers Manohar Lal Khattar of Haryana and Devendra Fadnavis of Maharashtra? The BJP says they are new faces, clean and generally wonderful fellows. No one has heard of them before. Neither of them has any experience in running any part of a state government. Narendra Modi might like them. But is that enough to be Chief Ministers of two most important states, where the BJP has never formed a government?
The surprising election results of Haryana and Maharashtra Assemblies have thrown Indian politics into confusion. The results are a great victory for BJP and terrible defeat for Congress. Both Maharashtra and Haryana have been ruled by Congress for a long period and are very important States economically. The BJP had never ruled either Haryana or Maharashtra. For the first time, BJP is going to rule Haryana and Maharashtra. The BJP will become a major force and the Congress will have to find new strategies to survive.
There is one solution for Indian political dynasties. Their survival is being called into question. The recent elections have shown that if there is an opportunity, then people will vote against dynasts, unless there are pressing reasons. According to the law of Genetics, eventually the genes of any family will deteriorate and there will be sharp deterioration in the fortunes of all. This affects politicians too. The original founder of a dynasty is usually a very sharp person and has the grit and hardiness to succeed. Then he wants his progeny to succeed him and take-over his political empire. This is where the trouble starts. Many a time, the heirs are very mediocre and sustain office only by accident or due to the general lethargy in the Indian system.
On October 18, 2014, Govt. Of India announced that it was totally de-regulating diesel prices. Before this announcement, government followed a policy of increasing diesel oil prices by 50 Paise per litre every month. Whatever the international price of crude oil, the idea of having a monthly increase of 50 paise per litre would be to reduce the gap between the subsidised diesel prices and the international market prices.
For the last four months, India has enjoyed the surprising benefit of falling crude oil prices. When crude oil prices fall, there is an automatic decline in prices of petrol, diesel, kerosene, LPG gas and a host of hydro-carbon prices. Four months ago, the price of Crude oil was nearly US$ 115 dollars per barrel. Now the price is around US $ 88 per barrel. This steep fall has had some benefits for India.
All those directly interested in the Indian economy were eagerly waiting to see what the Governor of the Reserve bank of India Dr. Raghuram Rajan would do on Sept. 30, 2014. It was the day when the RBI would announce its latest monetary policy. The RBI would determine the lending policies of banks and also the quantum of money available for business activity. Ever since Dr. Raghuram Rajan became the Governor of the RBI, he maintained that he would be a tough anti-inflation fighter and that he would not swerve from this objective.
The elections to Haryana and Maharashtra are on October 15, 2014. The most un-expected things have happened. In Maharashtra, the 25 year old iron alliance with the Shiv Sena was broken. This sudden situation has surprised everyone. You see, the BJP did not act as it was expected. The BJP refused to be insulted and refused to succumb to threats. The problem with threats is sometimes threats do not work.
Ideally, BJP which is in power in Delhi needed to have Shiv Sena in Maharashtra to win state elections. If the Congress party forms a government in these two states, it will be a major setback to BJP.
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.