‘Look, I trust my ministers’
17 Feb 2015 4:57 AM IST
Kejriwal’s administrative qualities, after this move, will certainly be put to comparison with his bête-noire the Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has so much power been concentrating in his hands; and sometimes even accused of bugging of his senior ministers.
The Delhi chief minister, by handing over all the important portfolios to his deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia along with the residual departments, has given a strong message to the rest of political class, that shows the level of trust that he has on his colleague. The Prime Minister has often been criticised for peeping in the portfolios that has been held by even some of his senior most experienced Union Cabinet Ministers like foreign minister Sushma Swaraj, and home minister Rajnath Singh. Multiple cases of bugging of his senior ministers and visitors have also been popped- up in media from time to time.
Kejriwal seems to have given freehand to his ministers along with the power and portfolio and he has only taken the charge of supervising them. This is the message that Kejriwal wants to give to his political opponents and it will not be surprising if he raises these issues in the coming assembly elections in Punjab which is being seen the next battle ground for AAP.
Kejriwal has already gained points by introducing his wife to his party workers during victory celebration at party head office in Patel Nagar on February, 10. The pictures, gesture and messages were well publicized in media and were also the matter of furious discussions among the supporters of both the leaders on social media.
AAP chief also has an added advantage by handing over all the important department to his deputy- he will not require to meet Union Ministers, BJP leaders and not even Prime Minister office to seek assistance from the Central government for any financial cooperation or his demand of full statehood status for Delhi. All these routine works will be looked after by Sisodia as he is the in-charge of these departments. And if need arises to hold any meeting with Central ministers or the Prime Minister Kejriwal will be doing so as a 'boss' of Delhi government not as an in-charge of any department.
A free hand Kejriwal will also be having plenty of time to meet with his supporters, party workers, interest groups, associations, representatives of various groups, organising public meetings to maintain rapport with people and get their feedbacks, and also organising the party at national level. In his earlier 49 days tenure appointment with Kejriwal was one of the main concerns among visitors of Delhi Secretariat which led to protest and anguish among supporters. The situation went out of control after failure of Janata Darbar experiment.
Thus all the protocols will just be confined to rule books. Simultaneously, he will be boss in Delhi government too by having the powers to monitor the work and assess the performances of the four new entrants. A senior AAP leader told millennium post, “We have 67 MLAs; nobody can prevent us from removing non-performers and inducting new ministers at any point of time.”
In confidential conversations with this reporter, several top strategists of Aam Admi Party admitted that the meeting of Arvind Kejriwal with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, before taking oath was the decision that was consciously taken. “We wanted to present Arvind Kejriwal as a 'winner' and Modi as a 'loser' which is why meeting was organised before Kejriwal’s swearing-in ceremony.
‘Kejriwal's meeting with the prime minister after his swearing-in would have been seen as a meeting between the chief minister of a small state like Delhi and the prime minister of India. In that situation Modi could have enjoyed an upper hand,’ said a core committee member of AAP.
Kejriwal, having the crown of historic landslide victory, also met the president Pranab Mukherjee, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Minister for Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu. It's important to mention that in the protocol the chief minister of Delhi comes on 15th position in his jurisdiction which is at par with deputy minister in Central government but much below the rank of Union Minister of State (MOS) which comes on the 10th rank in protocol. If Delhi chief minister is outside of his jurisdiction, going to meet Union ministers or the president, his rank in the protocol list comes down to 24th in the 26th step of protocol hierarchy.
These two political leaders had most of the things common in their decisive political battle from slogan to election campaign strategy. In Lok Sabha election- 2014 Modi gave a call for “Abki Bar Modi Sarkar” while Kejriwal gave the slogan “Panch Saal Kejriwal” in his 'perform or perish' battle for Delhi assembly election 2015. Both had adopted strategy to connect the voters directly and addressed maximum public meetings, mobilized party workers for door to door contacts, and even brought some winnable candidates from outside. But now it's time for Kejriwal to show the difference in administration- how to govern and perform on election promises.
The Delhi chief minister, by handing over all the important portfolios to his deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia along with the residual departments, has given a strong message to the rest of political class, that shows the level of trust that he has on his colleague. The Prime Minister has often been criticised for peeping in the portfolios that has been held by even some of his senior most experienced Union Cabinet Ministers like foreign minister Sushma Swaraj, and home minister Rajnath Singh. Multiple cases of bugging of his senior ministers and visitors have also been popped- up in media from time to time.
Kejriwal seems to have given freehand to his ministers along with the power and portfolio and he has only taken the charge of supervising them. This is the message that Kejriwal wants to give to his political opponents and it will not be surprising if he raises these issues in the coming assembly elections in Punjab which is being seen the next battle ground for AAP.
Kejriwal has already gained points by introducing his wife to his party workers during victory celebration at party head office in Patel Nagar on February, 10. The pictures, gesture and messages were well publicized in media and were also the matter of furious discussions among the supporters of both the leaders on social media.
AAP chief also has an added advantage by handing over all the important department to his deputy- he will not require to meet Union Ministers, BJP leaders and not even Prime Minister office to seek assistance from the Central government for any financial cooperation or his demand of full statehood status for Delhi. All these routine works will be looked after by Sisodia as he is the in-charge of these departments. And if need arises to hold any meeting with Central ministers or the Prime Minister Kejriwal will be doing so as a 'boss' of Delhi government not as an in-charge of any department.
A free hand Kejriwal will also be having plenty of time to meet with his supporters, party workers, interest groups, associations, representatives of various groups, organising public meetings to maintain rapport with people and get their feedbacks, and also organising the party at national level. In his earlier 49 days tenure appointment with Kejriwal was one of the main concerns among visitors of Delhi Secretariat which led to protest and anguish among supporters. The situation went out of control after failure of Janata Darbar experiment.
Thus all the protocols will just be confined to rule books. Simultaneously, he will be boss in Delhi government too by having the powers to monitor the work and assess the performances of the four new entrants. A senior AAP leader told millennium post, “We have 67 MLAs; nobody can prevent us from removing non-performers and inducting new ministers at any point of time.”
In confidential conversations with this reporter, several top strategists of Aam Admi Party admitted that the meeting of Arvind Kejriwal with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, before taking oath was the decision that was consciously taken. “We wanted to present Arvind Kejriwal as a 'winner' and Modi as a 'loser' which is why meeting was organised before Kejriwal’s swearing-in ceremony.
‘Kejriwal's meeting with the prime minister after his swearing-in would have been seen as a meeting between the chief minister of a small state like Delhi and the prime minister of India. In that situation Modi could have enjoyed an upper hand,’ said a core committee member of AAP.
Kejriwal, having the crown of historic landslide victory, also met the president Pranab Mukherjee, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Minister for Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu. It's important to mention that in the protocol the chief minister of Delhi comes on 15th position in his jurisdiction which is at par with deputy minister in Central government but much below the rank of Union Minister of State (MOS) which comes on the 10th rank in protocol. If Delhi chief minister is outside of his jurisdiction, going to meet Union ministers or the president, his rank in the protocol list comes down to 24th in the 26th step of protocol hierarchy.
These two political leaders had most of the things common in their decisive political battle from slogan to election campaign strategy. In Lok Sabha election- 2014 Modi gave a call for “Abki Bar Modi Sarkar” while Kejriwal gave the slogan “Panch Saal Kejriwal” in his 'perform or perish' battle for Delhi assembly election 2015. Both had adopted strategy to connect the voters directly and addressed maximum public meetings, mobilized party workers for door to door contacts, and even brought some winnable candidates from outside. But now it's time for Kejriwal to show the difference in administration- how to govern and perform on election promises.
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