Now that Mr. Narendra Modi, and by association, the BJP, has a majority in the Lok Sabha, we know who the next PM will be. The speculation on who will be chosen by him as his cabinet colleagues, however, does persist. The intrigue, specifically, surrounds the portfolios that the once senior, now seen as senile and surplus, leaders may be handed.
The sleight of hand in picking contestants for the polls excluded some of them and led to one leader's rather conspicuous expulsion from the party. A few others who could not be cold shouldered without sufficient padding, were pushed out of the constituencies of their choice, or divested of all choice. Yet, you must wonder if the BJP might have preferred to be short of a few seats in Parliament that are now to be occupied, health permitting, by these leaders blessed with wonderful longevity.
Among the few leaders who gracefully retired from electoral politics before the polls, albeit to make way for his son, was former Finance Minister, Mr. Yashwant Sinha. In an interview to a TV channel, Mr. Sinha regretted that some of his chronological cohorts had taken exception at being left out of the list of contestants, only stopping short of rebuking them. He rationalized his own retirement by referring to his age: he is nearing 80 and couldn't be certain he would be able to indefatigably fulfill his obligations towards his constituency over the next five years, which is the term of a Lok Sabha member. He was amused that some leaders older than him were failing to factor in this uncertainty that is as much a gift of one's age as is their experience. I'm sure Mr. Modi and his team remain indebted to the sagacious Mr. Sinha for unequivocally taking up the cudgels on behalf of their efforts to prune the party of dead wood.
Returning to the senile leaders who contested the polls and won, it is unmissable that most of them have been unable to keep pace with the times. As much was confirmed by the opinion and exit polls, in which the voters overwhelmingly confided that they had chosen Mr. Modi and not the BJP. The 2009 electoral results, too, disapproved of this band of leaders led by the Bhishma Pitamah, Mr. L. K Advani. So, how can Mr. Modi accord these veterans the veneration they deserve without vesting them with briefs that may hinder the revolution in governance he has been mandated to bring about by the people of India?
By likening himself to the grand old warrior of the Mahabharata who never sat on the throne, Mr. Advani, unwittingly, may have proffered a way out of the poser facing Mr. Modi. In an inversion of the diarchy that prevailed over the past decade, Mr. Advani could be anointed the NDA Chairperson, giving him privileges of a cabinet member, without the powers Ms. Sonia Gandhi wielded by holding the corresponding position in the UPA. There is media speculation that Mr. Advani is angling for the Lok Sabha Speaker's chair, and BJP would want to bear in mind that the Speaker, despite being a member of the lower house, is, in principle, extricated from party restraints. A free hand at the fag end of one's political career and a rediscovery of that long obscured obligation towards and love for one's nation can fill the Speaker with a resolve that riles his pre-elevation comrades.
What then of Ms. Sushma Swaraj, who is believed to have been an aspirant to the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidacy? Her being at Bhopal on counting day, not at 11, Akbar Road, or with Team Modi, was the most recent example of the uncomfortable bond she shares with her "brother," Narendrabhai. We can be sure that the feeling is mutual. Mr. Murali Manohar Joshi, having been evicted from Varanasi, has smarted throughout the nine-phased election, most notably, claiming that the wave sweeping the country was for the BJP and not Mr. Modi, before having to reinterpret his own statement for the country. These two leaders, and their fellow stalwarts, may have to choose between light-weight ministries in Delhi and that traditional sinecure of senile politicians across party lines: one of the Raj Bhavans. Given Mr. Modi's mantra of minimum government and maximum governance, the former option may not even be extended to them if Mr. Modi sets about implementing his plans dispassionately. Then there are the pre-poll allies who will demand their ounce of flesh in the form of these ministries.
As for Mr. Sinha, he may have to remain satisfied with being an adviser to the Finance Ministry, if and when called upon to do so. In about three years, however, could we have one more former Finance Minister of the Government of India entering upon the Rashtrapathi Bhavan?
Pride and prestige in politics, I suppose, are mutually exclusive. You swallow the former to sport the latter.
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