The festive mood at the Rashtrapati Bhavan's Darbar Hall, where new ministers were awaiting to be administered oath of office and secrecy by President Pranab Mukherjee turned sombre, with the news that the simmering tension between the two Hinduvta allies, the Shiv Sena and the BJP have come to a boil.
The Rashtrapti Bhavan staff quietly removed a chair in the second row meant for the Sena MP Anil Desai, who was originally scheduled to take oath as a union minister. Former Shiv Sena leader Suresh Prabhu, who was appointed as cabinet minister, gave the slip to waiting reporters.
Outside Rashtrapati Bhavan, there was high drama at Delhi airport. Two Shiv Sena leaders had forced Sena MP Anil Desai to skip the ceremony and fly back to Mumbai. The party supremo Uddhav Thackeray wanted a cabinet berth in Sunday's reshuffle. But the BJP chose to give that cabinet post to Suresh Prabhu, who defected to the BJP hours before the ceremony. Facing queries on Prabhu's inclusion, BJP leaders outside the Rashtrapati Bhavan confirmed that he resigned from the Shiv Sena and represents the BJP in the union cabinet.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remark on "minimum government and maximum governance" in the wake of increasing numbers of ministers from 45 to 66 came to be questioned. Of this, 27 including the Prime Minister are of cabinet rank, 13 ministers of state with independent charge and 26 hold ministers of state posts. "From the experience of the last five months, we have learnt that some key ministers were overburdened and it was hampering functioning. But the number is still 10 less than the previous UPA governments," a senior minister said.
Ahead of the swearing-in, the new ministers had a breakfast meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his Race Course residence. Though, refusing to divulge details, new ministers said the PM explained to them key responsibility areas and gave a pep-talk on how to behave and interact. "We were told to be completely committed to service of the nation," said YS Chowdary, the new minister representing the Telgu Desam Party (TDP). He, along with Babul Supriyo, popular playback singer and BJP parliamentarian from West Bengal, were the only ones to take oath in English. Modi also told them to work longer hours, urged them to learn fast, follow his policies, explained to them repeatedly to perform as they will be monitored based on their performance.
Insiders said Modi had a special session with Parikar, expecting him to combine his clean image with delivery as well in the defence ministry. In the previous regime, A K Antony in order to protect his hard earned clean image sat on all defence projects and didn't allow any major acquisition that has affected the preparedness of the defence forces.
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