It is certainly unusual for a senior Cabinet minister to ask the Prime Minister to take away some of his work burden. Indeed, heavyweight politicians like to give off the aura of power by having as many government departments under their charge as they can. It is only fair then that Sharad Pawar, the stalwart Maharashtra politician who holds the agriculture and allied portfolios in the UPA-2 government, should be taken at face value — that he has not urged the Prime Minister to lighten his work as a Cabinet minister on account of his appointment to a two-year term as president of the International Cricket Council. It is true that when the Nationalist Congress Party chief made his appeal to Dr Manmohan Singh six months ago, he would have been aware that he was to take up the ICC presidency. He was already vice-president of the world cricket body and due in the normal course to be elevated to the presidency. Nevertheless, there is merit in Mr Pawar’s contention. The president of the ICC is a largely ceremonial position. The day-to-day hard work is put in by the CEO and the plethora of advisers. As such, it is unlikely that being president would interfere with an Indian Cabinet minister’s responsibilities insofar as time-related pressures are concerned. The Maratha leader has already put in a couple of years as chief of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, and this had not prevented him from discharging his ministerial responsibilities effectively.
With time constraints appearing to be an unlikely reason why the NCP chief is keen to have his government work reduced, we should also reasonably accept what Mr Pawar says next — that he’d like to devote more time to politics. The NCP’s brand value has diminished in recent years, and it is unlikely to be raised significantly if the party supremo, freed to a degree from governmental responsibilities, works harder for the party. On the other hand, if he were to shed some areas of his present charge, these could be given to other NCP MPs. This is a good way of keeping the flock together when the party’s brand image is not what it was, and some in the NCP are said to be keeping their options open vis-à-vis returning to their parent party, the Congress. Offering incentives to MPs and winning them over is also likely to be a useful instrument should the NCP leader be looking to get his daughter Supriya Sule to succeed him as chief with as little fuss as possible, especially since she is a relative newcomer to politics. However, these calculations depend on the Prime Minister agreeing to lighten Mr Pawar’s workload. Whether Dr Singh is able to oblige his NCP colleague or not is likely to be a political decision taken by the Congress leadership. If the Congress wishes to leave undisturbed the Congress-NCP coalition government in Maharashtra and the political dynamics that underpin it, the Prime Minister may heed Mr Pawar’s urgings. On the other hand, if the Congress decides to create a situation that may lead to the scattering of the NCP (and the return of its members to the Congress), it may choose to be venturesome and turn down Mr Pawar’s request.
Whatever the considerations of power politics, the NCP chief needs to answer a few questions. Especially when agriculture production was down in the past two years on account of deficient rainfall, the ministry for civil supplies under Mr Pawar’s charge needed to crank up the public distribution system so that the poorest people weren’t exposed to the hardship caused by sharply escalating prices. It may be just as well that the NCP leader surrenders this portfolio. But this would have been worthwhile if a dynamic minister committed to the PDS succeeds him, regardless of party labels.