by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's choice of Goa
chief minister Manohar Parrikar as his Defence Minister, in place of an
overburdened Arun Jaitley, is indicative of his new requirement. In the Prime
Minister's eyes, there is certainly no comparison of anyone with Jaitley, who
has long been his trusted envoy in the gilded corridors of Lutyen's Delhi
Jaitley retains Finance & Corporate Affairs. But the niche
that Modi wants Parrikar to fill is that of a silent doer in a ministry that is
poised to see a humongous amount of spending, with proportionate result. The
Defence Ministry will spend something like Rs 120,000 crore in a short time, of
which Rs 70,000 crore is earmarked for making submarines and transport aircraft
in the private sector, through a host of domestic-foreign collaborations, like between
the Tata Group of India and the U.S.-based Boeing Corporation. India
The flood of import has drained foreign exchange, bred corruption
on an overwhelming scale and sapped the energy of indigenous defence research and
ordnance factories. But Modi is about to overturn all that. In South Block,
which houses the Defence Ministry, the rules of the game are changing. With the
private sector being invited to defence production, the Defence Minister will
no longer preside over a gaggle of babus. He has to work across industries and
organisations and choose the solution that serves the national interest best.
Parrikar has been chosen for the job for two reasons. First, for a
reform of this magnitude, the person must have impeccable RSS credentials as
that makes his actions acceptable to the ideological parent body. At Goa's
little town of Mapusa
Besides, Parrikar has the skill to interface with the corporate
sector as a new age politician, without becoming its crony, somewhat like what
the UPA-2 became accused of, but not by going to the other extreme of gnashing
teeth and issuing threats at businessmen, as the late V P Singh was accused of doing.
Parrikar came to power in Panaji in the wake of a gigantic mining scandal,
involving Rs 35,000 crore, which had prompted the Supreme Court last year to
put a ban on entire mining operations in the state. During Lok Sabha and
assembly poll campaign, Parrikar and his party swore to fix the illegal miners
if elected.
However, the total ban on mining was threatening the state's life
blood. Beside crippling revenue losses, it meant unemployment and its
socio-economic repercussions. Parrikar's moral dilemma was relieved only when
the High Court allowed resumption of activity by the mines. In Defence
Ministry, as in many other wings of the government, the early signs of radical
reform are visible.
Modi is looking at the big picture and the long horizon. Like
expanding the railway network with both domestic and foreign capital and had to
bring in new entrant Suresh Prabhu even at the cost of shunting out RSS
loyalist Sadanand Gowda. It is obvious that on completion of the first six
months of his tenure, Modi is looking for points persons who can be trusted
with such fundamental transformations. His first Cabinet in May had the stamp
of all the BJP satraps. But the November expansion has a clear Modi stamp. The
wings of many have been clipped while others should be ready for chopping 6
months down the line.
However, Parrikar is a class apart in this entire exercise. His
role is unlikely to be confined to that of a change agent. Being Modi's loyal
follower (not his equal, as some others still fancy themselves to be), he will
not play games on multi-billion defence deals in the tradition of some of
India's past defence ministers.
Above all, being an IIT-ian, he is powerfully networked with a
host of technocrats globally whose advice can be priceless in the matter of
choice of weapon, or even strategy. Incidentally, Nandan Nilekani, Infosys co-
founder and architect of Aadhaar, the biometric unique identification system,
is a cohort of Parrikar at IIT.
The affable former Goa chief
minister can in fact be an asset in South Block as technology of warfare is changing
worldwide, shifting from dependence on personnel to machines like drones and
sensors and long-range weapons. He is capable of rejecting out-right that there
is no need to raise a new battalion to protect the borders. In Asia, China India
Is there a possibility of Parrikar becoming sometime in the future
Modi's governmental alter ego, like BJP president Amit Shah has already become
in the sphere of politics? I think it is absolutely possible for the following
reasons. Modi, as a leader, goes by instinct, not consensus. As he moves
instinctively, he needs a handful of people at key positions who can blindly deliver
what he wants. That's how Shah has won his laurels.
Is there a possibility of Parrikar
becoming sometime in
the future Modi's governmental
alter ego,
Heading the defence ministry is easier than leading a complex
party like BJP. Yet it is more challenging. The defence minister is required to
keep the country battle- ready while it is bounded on two sides by hostile nuclear
neighbours. He is a strategist, innovator and custodian of a host of secret
military agreements with many foreign powers of diverse ideologies, including the
U.S. , Israel and Russia
For Parrikar, who turns 59 next month, it is the test of a lifetime.
From the North Goa town of Mapusa
(The author is
National Editor,
Lokmat group)
