caste minister

Now that Pranab Mukherjee has been made the President of India, after an awful mockery of that office during the time of Pratibha Patil, a reshuffle in the cabinet of the Government of India was expected.

P Chidambaram was made the finance minister of India for the third time, and Sushil Kumar Shinde was made the Home Minister. Sushil Kumar Shinde said that he was a dalit and he should be considered for the post because he was a Dalit. When he was made the Home Minister, thanked Sonia Gandhi and the puppet Prime Minister for making him the Home Minister, and thanked the Gandhi family for always caring for the Dalits and minorities.

“"I am in politics for the last 40 years. People from the Dalit community do not generally get the charge of the Home Ministry. But for the first time, Rajiv Gandhi had given a Dalit (Buta Singh) the charge of Home Ministry, and now for the second time, it is under Sonia Gandhi's leadership, that Dr. Manmohan Singh has given me this post," said Shinde.”

It disgusted me to read this. These are the swines that this country manages to vote, and relishes. This is the Government of India we are talking about, but given the brazenness and utter lack of care with which it is being run, it feels like a small family run business.

Like a true politician who has achieved nothing for the country in their tenure as a parasite, Mr. Shinde promises to deliver like he always has. What he has delivered is something voters do not ask. In fact, most voters do not ask generally what politicians have done.

"The Gandhi family has always taken care of the welfare of backward castes. Dalits can also take bigger responsibility. The home ministry is a critical ministry. I have performed in the past and I will again prove through my work as the home minister," Shinde said.

There is a very good cartoon in today’s Mumbai Mirror from Morparia demonstrating exactly what has been going on in this country for the past many years. As I have mentioned, the Government of India is currently a closed loop that is very tightly controlled by the ever elusive and mysterious Sonia Gandhi and her eternal baby Rahul Gandhi, who at 42 is still groomed for something big by his mother. (I guess its okay, Prince Charles has remained a Prince for decades now).

This dearth of talent is definitely not a compulsion as many believe, it is a very deliberate way of running the government where a select few who are loyal and obedient are given the power to do anything.

Both Shinde and Chidambaram come with a lot of baggage, bogged down by allegations of involvement in scams that have grounded UPA 2 for over a year. For Chidambaram, the finance ministry has been a coveted assignment and he had been looking forward to coming home for the last three and a half years. With the economy tanking, the Congress argues that this can hardly be seen as a reward.

If Chidambaram has this 2G baggage, then Shinde carries the burden of the high profile Adarsh Housing scam. This is a bigger problem for the UPA since he is tipped to take over as the Leader of the House in the Lok Sabha. The job, previously held by Mukherjee, needs a lot of coordination with the Opposition parties to build consensus.

The Congress that has been stung by widespread criticism that Shinde has been rewarded with home portfolio on the day when the country suffered its worst power breakdown has retaliated by claiming that it is no reward. “This is a responsibility and not a reward,” said party spokesperson Renuka Chowdhury.

As pointed out in a Hindu editorial, the fact that the Ministry of Power continues to function without a permanent minister shows the mental and physical lethargy (which again I believe is by design) they have demonstrated in the last few years.

Moving onto other esteemed personalities in this Sonia Circus, Mr. Raul Vinci/Raul Maino/Rahul Gandhi says he is ready to play a bigger part in the Government and in the Congress party!! You know, any other time this would scare me and worry that the Queen Mother will do anything to establish her son to power, but given that he had led the campaigns of the CONgress party in two states, including Ulta Pradesh, and despite the fraud Gandhi family campaigning as if their lives depended on it, came up short, and way short. Of course, the CONgress minions and old faithful at once rubbished any media comments that the defeats had anything to do with the Royal Prince. Despite the lack of maturity and awareness among the voting masses, and disinterest among the middle class, perhaps Sonia Gandhi will find it tough to establish Rahul as the PM given that this is not a monarchy after all.

However, I believe the CONgress faithful, and would love to see the Gandhi’s actually get out of their secret compartments and if they want to rule this country, not rule it in secret, and lead from the front. That may be asking too much, and more importantly, they probably have other plans already.