From 54 to 78 - the union cabinet expanded for the first time in two years since Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the second term; 36 new faces have been inducted while 12 ministers have resigned. It looks like a performance-based portfolio shift as well.
In an interview with CNBC-TV18, AK Bhattacharya, editorial director of Business Standard, spoke at length about the cabinet reshuffle from a business standpoint.
“It’s a big overhaul. But for me, the takeaway is that the two cabinet ministers who have gained from this reshuffle are the home minister who has got a new ministry, which has been carved out – the agriculture ministry and the ministry of cooperation. Therefore, from an economic policy standpoint one has to see what kind of role the cooperation ministry plays given the way the cooperatives will perform in the economy,” said Bhattacharya.
According to him, the finance ministry has been strengthened after Wednesday's reshuffle. “The other ministry, at the cabinet-level minister, who has got strengthened through this overhaul is the finance minister because the finance minister now has got not just one more colleague under her charge in the form of the minister of state, but she (the FM Nirmala Sitharaman) has got an important additional department under her, which is the department of public enterprises,” Bhattacharya said.
For the entire interview, watch the video.
(Edited by : Dipika Ghosh)
First Published: Jul 8, 2021 9:30 AM IST
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