Decoding Modi's Mega Makeover

The cabinet overhaul was an exercise in rewarding performers and getting fresh talent to ensure delivery of promises. It was also about representation to electorally significant interest groups and building a next-gen leadership

- Raj Chengappa And Anilesh S. Mahajan

Never in his seven years as prime minister had Narendra Modi looked as vulnerable as he did at the peak of the second wave of Covid-19 this May. The pandemic struck with a ferocity that caught his government flat-footed. As the death toll mounted, compounded by a criminal shortage of medical oxygen, Modi and his government’s credibility were severely dented. With states imposing rolling lockdowns, the economy slipped further into the doldrums. People across the country were truly hurting. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s ignominious defeat in the high-stakes battle for the West Bengal assembly strengthened the perception that the Modi government was running out of momentum. This was barely two years after Modi won a historic second term with back-to-back majorities in Parliament, firmly cementing his aura of invincibility. The situation had changed for the worse in no time.

Sensing that it was a now or never moment, Modi did what he does best—convert adversity into opportunity. He turned a routine cabinet expansion into a mega makeover of Team Modi, designed to meet several major imperatives. The first was that having initiated the second generation of economic reforms to transform the country, it was crucial that his government delivered on its plans and promises before losing the plot altogether. That meant cutting out the deadwood and revamping his cabinet to introduce a new energy and dynamism that could help his government meet the daunting challenges.