From Smriti Irani to Prakash Javadekar - The HRD shift
- In Current Affairs
- 06:18 PM, Jul 08, 2016
- Ranabir Bhattacharyya
Narendra Modi has always been a swift administrator. Even since he was the CM of Gujarat, he has always been coming up with surprises, and political masterstrokes. This time around, the big reshuffle in the central cabinet has been the centre of all mathematical and political calculations especially at a crucial juncture when the country is awaiting the Uttar Pradesh elections in next few months. Incidentally, in this big cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Narendra Modi , Smriti Irani has been moved out of the HRD ministry and in her place, Prakash Javadekar has been promoted to cabinet rank. This specific shuffle has been looked upon closely by seasoned political analysts. The political track record of Narendra Modi says that he is a master tactician and this specific move is also expected to pay rich dividends to BJP and has nothing to do with 'rewarding' or 'punishing' someone.
Ever since Smriti Irani was inducted as the HRD Minister by BJP top brass after landslide win in Lok Sabha elections, there have been unparalleled sexist jibes against her. The ABP group went ahead in calling her 'Aunty National' in their headlines. The Indian National Congress also didn't miss any single opportunity to stoop down to a new level of sexist politics. In her stint as the MHRD, Smriti Irani took bold decisions and addressed the media on several matters and came out strong after some controversies.
Her decisive punches in and outside the Lok Sabha have always been looked upon as strong replies to Congress leaders looking for political rehabilitation. The Smriti Irani regime also witnessed interesting changes, such as the inclusion of Sanskrit in IITs and one can definitely say that HRD moved ahead from the sloppy UPA Era. Let's not forget the contributions of Smriti Irani to revamp school textbooks which were mostly confined to outdated information. Her persistence with yoga and its practices is also something that shouldn't be forgotten.
There is no denying the fact that barring Sushma Swaraj or Uma Bharati, BJP has not had many women in the top brass of party leadership since the late 90’s. Even in case of state leadership in various states, the situation is not at all satisfactory. Here in lies the importance of Smriti Irani, who has single handedly fought her opponents even before the unfortunate Rohith Vemula incident or the JNU incident. In the beginning of her short tenure as MHRD, Smriti Irani was thought to be an extremely 'soft' target. With time, it was clearly understood that Narendra Modi didn't make any mistake in giving her the HRD portfolio. Her onscreen charisma and popularity eclipsed others. Her control over Hindi and giving impromptu lectures made her a favorite amongst many audiences.
The upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly election is expected to be a game changer in Indian political domain. If the Congress Party fails miserably, certainly it would signal an end to the Gandhi era. Interestingly, the Congress Party is also well aware of this fact and they are making all possible efforts to make a comeback. Thus one sees the late arrival of Priyanka Vadra and Sheila Dikshit in the UP political frame. BJP needs someone of the caliber of Smriti Irani to take the fight to the opposition to complement the strategies taken by Amit Shah. In a state where the Akhilesh Yadav government has failed miserably and the law & order situation is this bad, Smriti Irani can be a strong chief ministerial candidate for NDA.
Thus in all probability, the shift from HRD to textile, isn't actually a so-called 'demotion' as canvassed by sections of the media, but it is a bigger responsibility in the broader context. And let's not forget the person who is taking the responsibility of MHRD either. Prakash Javadekar has been the only minister of state to be given Cabinet rank by Narendra Modi Government in the latest cabinet reshuffle. He has not only been extremely successful in giving quick clearances to approvals without delaying but also has been a man of words. Prakash Javadekar took ample care of the 'consent clause' and foreign investors have praised him for his sincerity and commitment in quick functioning of his department and environment governance. Especially in an era of emerging economy, pro-active role of Prakash Javadekar has been appreciated from all quarters and one can only hope that his committed approach will definitely help the education arena of India. It remains to be seen how Prakash Javadekar approaches various issues with regard to higher studies and FDI in Indian educational institutions.
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