by a Thinker, Sailor, Blogger, Irreverent Guy from Madras

Will Rahul Gandhi make Prime Minister


Within an hour or so of this article, the so called final-reshuffle of the Cabinet before the General Elections would be officially out.  I say officially, because almost all the new channels are out speculating, and have almost decided on the cabinet posts to be allotted.

It is true that we know who the people are going to be chucked out.  They have been gently pushed to resign, no doubt as a way for them to save face.  But the truth is the guys and the gals who are moving to ‘party-work’ have been pretty useless, if not tainted with corruption.
  • Subodh Kant Sahay has been allegedly involved in Coal Scam, as is SriPrakash Jaiswal.
  • Ambika Soni is probably going out for the digital TV transmission mess.
  • Jaipal Reddy obviously is being told to walk (the nasty pun is intended) for the petroleum products pricing fiasco.
Not that the new Cabinet would be a paragon of virtue.  With Salman Kursheed still in, it cannot be.  The allegations on his trust about false documentation and swindling of public funds, to be truthful, aren’t much more than a misdemeanour.  But the way he actually seemed to threaten the anti-corruption activist(s) if they venture into his controversy isn’t.

And if the self-confessed hustler Shashi Tharoor makes it back, as media suggests, there is no way the cabinet can be a paragon of virtue, but only a patronage of vultures.

There is also a great big hullaballoo being made about the young blood being brought in or being given more important positions.  No doubt it is a welcome and much needed move.

The Young Turks like Sachin Pilot, Manish Tiwari, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Milind Deora and others are in their mid-thirties and forties. 

By western standards, it might not be young.  When compared to investment or hedge fund managers and IT or marketing professionals, they would seem jaded.

When compared with the passion of India - the Indian Cricket team - even these guys are ‘old-farts’.  And when you think of the next older group of ministers to be inducted or elevated, even my uncles look younger.
I’m talking about prospective ministers like D. Purandeswari, Rajeev Shukla, and some others.  Not about my grandpa lookalikes like Kamal Nath, Anand Sharma, Salman Kurshid, Kapil Sibal and others who are in the sixties range.

Not to talk of the real old-codgers like Veerappa Moily, Mallikarjun Kharge, P. Chidambaram, Harish Rawat and others.

By age standards of Far-East, Middle-East and the sub-continent the first two groups - ministers in forties and fifties are a real welcome change.

A welcome change in that it would be a breathe of fresh air.  Not that being young of age is an armour against corruption - ask Robert Vadra, who is in the same age group.
:-P

So what about Rahul Gandhi?  Will he make Prime Minister?

My take is that he should move into 7 Race Course Road, from 10 Janpath, today.  For three reasons. 
  1. The change in the head of government would open up a chance for the UPA-2 government to leave the corruption scandals behind try to recover in the year left before the nation moves into election mode.
  2. None of the allies would dare to, or would be able to, act in the same boorish and blackmailing or threatening manner, they’ve been doing for the last year or so.
  3. The on-going and repeated taunt of Narendra Modi on Rahul Gandhi’s inexperience in governance would become moot.  In fact, with Rahul Gandhi as PM, it would not be a race between 2 hopefuls or (forgive me) equals anymore.  It would the challenger Narendra Modi against an incumbent Rahul Gandhi.
Barring the unexpected, or the media rumour of a ‘wild card’ move in the offing, there is no word that Rahul Gandhi would assume Prime Minister-ship (or any minister-ship), today. 

If he doesn’t, then his chances of making Prime Minister of India would depend on two women and how they handle their life.
  • Mrs. Sonia Gandhi and how well she has recovered from her illness, along with 
  • Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra and how well she handles her scam-tainted husband Robert Vadra.
indira_gandhi_election_cabinet

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