by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group
Wings of Paswan clipped, Nadda shines
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New Delhi, NOv. 30
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If the wings of Ram Vilas Paswan, Union food & consumer affairs, are clipped, health & family affairs minister J P Nadda shines in the various Cabinet Committees re-constituted by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.
Paswan, president of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and a key ally of BJP in Bihar, does not find a place in the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). Its this committee which takes almost all key economic decisions. The meeting of the full Cabinet takes place only after the CCEA clears economic decisions. But Paswan despite being the food minister does not figure in the list. Instead of the food minister, the PM chose to keep food processing minister Harsimrat Kaur in the committee. Even the representative of the TDP civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapati Raju has been retained in the CCEA.
Even Anant Geete (Shiv Sena) who is Union heavy industries minister, does not find a place in the CCEA. However, Paswan has been retained in the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) which has 13 members and Parliamentary Affairs Committee.
The Cabinet Committees were reconstituted by the PM yesterday after the expansion & reshuffle of the Council of Ministers three weeks ago.
The importance of the Cabinet Committees is immense under Modi dispensation as he has abolished the system of Group of Ministers (GoMs) and empowered-Group of Ministers (e-GoMs) and brought down the number of the Cabinet Committees from 15 to a mere six. Therefore, there is virtual clamour amongst the ministers of the Cabinet & those holding Independent charge to get into these committees.
Political observers are somewhat baffled over the inclusion of J P Nadda, Union health minister into the CCPA. Nadda hails from Himachal Pradesh and was senior-most general secretary of the BJP. His induction into the CCPA is an indication that he may get a larger role in future.
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