New Delhi: With the induction of 21 new faces, the strength of the Narendra Modi government has gone up to 66, just 12 less than that of the former UPA government headed by Manmohan Singh.
It also seems that Prime Minister Modi’s much touted “minimum government, maximum governance” plank has taken a backseat, with the experience of the last five months forcing a rethink.
Apologists, however, claim that the number of ministers in the Centre is still less than that of those headed by Manmohan Singh and Atal Behari Vajpayee before him.
Sources in the BJP noted that it was a wrong interpretation to equate Mr Modi’s “minimum government and maximum governance” with that of number of ministers in his team.
“Rather, by government Mr Modi meant less interference and by governance he meant more delivery. You need to have people to deal humungous task of governance in a country with more than 125 crore population,” they said.
Many also believe that Mr Modi is a man in “hurry” and wants to speed up the functioning in the government. Several of his ministers holding multiple portfolios were finding it hard to concentrate on their jobs. They are under also duress to deliver as quickly as possible. There is sense of prevailing in the government, that it was not possible to function properly with a council of ministers of just 45.
Secondly, there were political compulsions too to accommodate regional and caste aspirations, particularly when several of the crucial states are lined up for assembly elections in next two years.
