Clearing the fog

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has some surprises up his sleeve yet. In sharp contrast to cynical speculation on the eve of his Cabinet...

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Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has some surprises up his sleeve yet. In sharp contrast to cynical speculation on the eve of his Cabinet reshuffle that election-mode populism would trump reform and governance, he gave his Council of Ministers, a modern, forward-looking makeover on Wednesday evening. The revolving door has separated the non-performing ministers from the doers, the atavistic from the modernisers.

Reform is the clear undercurrent in this week’s political exercise. With parties readying for a year of Assembly elections and contemplating the 20 month stretch to the General Elections, it was feared that the Government would shy away from economic reforms.

In months past, political opportunism has appeared to dictate a retreat from the admittedly uneven march towards liberalisation. And the terrain over which this duel between political expediency and pragmatic policy has been fought is disinvestment. By retaining its faith in Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie — indeed by entrusting additional portfolios like Telecommunications and Information Technology — the Government has announced its intent to stick with reforms.

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The new look Cabinet sees another reform-oriented politician returning to the fold. Arun Jaitley’s reinduction as Law minister in the stead of Jana Krishnamurthy is both well-conceived and heartening. Equally strident is the message implicit in Pramod Mahajan’s exit from the Telecommunications ministry: that a reformist agenda demands transparency and accountability.

In addition, the Prime Minister’s decision to downgrade the Information and Broadcasting ministry — to give charge to a Minister of State instead of a senior Cabinet member — signals a long overdue burial of a Stalinist legacy. With Prasar Bharati long in place and the Government periodically advised to withdraw from the business of information and propaganda, Sushma Swaraj’s passage to the Health ministry to replace a visibly preoccupied Shatrughan Sinha bodes well.

As does the despatch of chief ministerial hopefuls to their arena of electoral combat. We convey our good wishes to Uma Bharti, Vasundhara Raje and Raman Singh, as we do to all others from across the political spectrum, warming up to muster strength in Assemblies headed for polls this year.

But members with their gaze set elsewhere have no place in a Council of Ministers that means business. Hopefully, a good precedent has been set.