Hey..
It is one year since the Congress led UPA government took over the reins of the Indian Union. After ruling the nation for one full term, Vajpayee and the BJP looked forward to a second chance, but the people thought otherwise. Congress won the election and was asked to form the government with a wavering support as usual from the self-respectless and aimless Communists and rest of the so-called secular parties. After a staged drama in front of 10, Janpath, Sonia decided to remain the Chairperson of the UPA and let one of the economy whizkids Manmohan Singh to take over the leadership at the Centre.
Dr. Manmohan Singh has since run a government, fairly well and with very minimum controversies as possible. Though he has rated his government to be at 6 out of 10 on his self-appraisal at the end of the year (which has not gone well with Sonia), on a relative scale the PM himself has done much better - and much needs to be commended for the selection of some of the ministers and the apt portfolio attached to them.
A few weeks ago, the India Today carried a very interesting artcile profiling some of the charismatic and active ministers who have taken their ministries seriously and go about selling India Inc., to the rest of the World effectively. As I read the article I was fascinated by the way these ministers went about doing their business and also the fact that majority were from our own Tamilnadu. A successful manager is one who identifies the strengths of his followers and taps them appropriately - looks like Manmohan has done this fairly well choosing the brand ambassadors & salesmen of India Inc.,
Our own P.Chidambaram, the Harvard grad with a World Bank/IMF network in place is a minister who can talk in equal ease about Shah Rukh (remember his main hoon na?) and Tiruvalluvar and the GDP figures for decades; a minister who responds to SMS queries almost immediately; a minister who believes in outcomes rather than outlays; a minister who can tell the World Bank to walk the talk effectively.
Praful Patel, the minister of Civil Aviation who has made discussions of Civil aviation more prominent in the Parliament more than that of Railways (inspite of Laloo Yadav) is a typical Donald Trump kinda businessman used to boardrooms. Salesman of Destination India, he has already created waves by opening the skies with US and Europe - the Delta, Jet, Sahara, Austrian, Virgin Atlantic and what not..
With an IFS background, Mani Shankar Aiyer, a seasoned Congressman - the Petroleum minister is one of the few who can directly relate to almost every visiting foreign head of state. A Cambridge man, a crypto-communist and a Gandhi family loyalist - the man has utilized his diplomacy connections well to establish backdoor negotiations with Myanmar & Algeria on Oil.
One of the heirs of the DMK dyansty and the man who managed the cable empire of the South - SUN network, Dayanidhi Maran looks exaclty like a Vice President of a IT Services organization. Using MBA techniques to govern, Maran has so far showed no patience for typical sarkari responsiveness. This man can not only just run a bitter campaign against Jayalalithaa in the noon but in the evening can also talk about Gartner magic quadrants & BCG matrix and all the rest of management jargons to impress MNC leaders and persuade them to invest in the nation.
Kamal Nath, Pranab Mukherjee are some of the other ministers who definitely deserve a mention.
Of course, the UPA government have their own share of cartoon-like/ lazy/dumb/pain-in-the-ass/non-performinge/embarassing/(& all of the above) ministers - like Laoo or Renuka Chowdhry or Shibu Soren or TR Baalu, no doubt; but the few brand salesmen as above are indeed trying to make a difference - and with visible outcomes. Wasnt this youthfulness, freshness and energy expected from the erstwhile BJP ? Wasnt the same vigour, passsion & commitment to make a difference expected from the Vajpayee/Advani leadership ?
A scientist and no-nonsense man for President, a wizard economist & a respected global leader as the PM, a set of well-educated grads for key portfolios - Is this the route towards Shankar's Mudhalvan .....?
Chao..
It is one year since the Congress led UPA government took over the reins of the Indian Union. After ruling the nation for one full term, Vajpayee and the BJP looked forward to a second chance, but the people thought otherwise. Congress won the election and was asked to form the government with a wavering support as usual from the self-respectless and aimless Communists and rest of the so-called secular parties. After a staged drama in front of 10, Janpath, Sonia decided to remain the Chairperson of the UPA and let one of the economy whizkids Manmohan Singh to take over the leadership at the Centre.
Dr. Manmohan Singh has since run a government, fairly well and with very minimum controversies as possible. Though he has rated his government to be at 6 out of 10 on his self-appraisal at the end of the year (which has not gone well with Sonia), on a relative scale the PM himself has done much better - and much needs to be commended for the selection of some of the ministers and the apt portfolio attached to them.
A few weeks ago, the India Today carried a very interesting artcile profiling some of the charismatic and active ministers who have taken their ministries seriously and go about selling India Inc., to the rest of the World effectively. As I read the article I was fascinated by the way these ministers went about doing their business and also the fact that majority were from our own Tamilnadu. A successful manager is one who identifies the strengths of his followers and taps them appropriately - looks like Manmohan has done this fairly well choosing the brand ambassadors & salesmen of India Inc.,
Our own P.Chidambaram, the Harvard grad with a World Bank/IMF network in place is a minister who can talk in equal ease about Shah Rukh (remember his main hoon na?) and Tiruvalluvar and the GDP figures for decades; a minister who responds to SMS queries almost immediately; a minister who believes in outcomes rather than outlays; a minister who can tell the World Bank to walk the talk effectively.
Praful Patel, the minister of Civil Aviation who has made discussions of Civil aviation more prominent in the Parliament more than that of Railways (inspite of Laloo Yadav) is a typical Donald Trump kinda businessman used to boardrooms. Salesman of Destination India, he has already created waves by opening the skies with US and Europe - the Delta, Jet, Sahara, Austrian, Virgin Atlantic and what not..
With an IFS background, Mani Shankar Aiyer, a seasoned Congressman - the Petroleum minister is one of the few who can directly relate to almost every visiting foreign head of state. A Cambridge man, a crypto-communist and a Gandhi family loyalist - the man has utilized his diplomacy connections well to establish backdoor negotiations with Myanmar & Algeria on Oil.
One of the heirs of the DMK dyansty and the man who managed the cable empire of the South - SUN network, Dayanidhi Maran looks exaclty like a Vice President of a IT Services organization. Using MBA techniques to govern, Maran has so far showed no patience for typical sarkari responsiveness. This man can not only just run a bitter campaign against Jayalalithaa in the noon but in the evening can also talk about Gartner magic quadrants & BCG matrix and all the rest of management jargons to impress MNC leaders and persuade them to invest in the nation.
Kamal Nath, Pranab Mukherjee are some of the other ministers who definitely deserve a mention.
Of course, the UPA government have their own share of cartoon-like/ lazy/dumb/pain-in-the-ass/non-performinge/embarassing/(& all of the above) ministers - like Laoo or Renuka Chowdhry or Shibu Soren or TR Baalu, no doubt; but the few brand salesmen as above are indeed trying to make a difference - and with visible outcomes. Wasnt this youthfulness, freshness and energy expected from the erstwhile BJP ? Wasnt the same vigour, passsion & commitment to make a difference expected from the Vajpayee/Advani leadership ?
A scientist and no-nonsense man for President, a wizard economist & a respected global leader as the PM, a set of well-educated grads for key portfolios - Is this the route towards Shankar's Mudhalvan .....?
Chao..
7 comments:
Siva...what a rosy picture you paint. Take 3 of our top ministers after the PM.
Shivraj Patil in the home portfolio has been a miserable failure. Today the govt is clashing with the EC, supreme court and messing up the governors office.
Natwar Singh in the foreign portfolio has run amuck. Barking same old foreign policy initiatives that need a decent burial. This is the minister who told N.Korea that india's n.clear initiative is certainly not emulatable and admirable. Kicked up a huge storm.
Pranab Mukherji in the defence portfolio. Not a day goes by when the ministry brings out one investigation after another to probe every damned defence deal signed. Started of with the kargil coffins, then bofor gun shells, then the Sukhoi deal, etc.
Poor PM is a political light weight who is not able to control his cabinet. heard that ministers report to madame instead of the PM, cause they know which side of their bread is buttered.
Finance is something I dont wish to comment on. The jury is still out there.
Thats reason the PM gave 6/10 and the Assocham's ABB (Asscocham's Business Barometer) gave a 65%. Kind of reflects the govt's strength in parliament, an edgy one at that.
Added to this the left front, the dominant partner to the govt, sees nothing to celebrate !!
Inspite of all this, the govt supposedly led by Singh has survived the first year and pulled through. That certainly calls for appreciation, but rosy worded celebration...well not yet.
Eshwar,
Maybe you didnt catch the point. The idea is not to say that the Government itself is doing better or worse. The blog was to comment on the way some of the ministers go avout doing their business, thatz all. Of course one has to agree with the nonsense put up by a bunch of many senior ministers, but all I wished to say was about the some of individuals who have been doing a good selling of the India brand.
Siva,
How is it that you keep writing about Religion/Politics inside out.
and How is it that you write stuff that Eswar always has to disagree on ?
Arvind
We agree to disagree.
Siva:
Among your list of ministers, Chidambaram's last two budgets are safe budgets. Nothing to be proud off given the expectations that we carry for Chidambaram. There is nothing in his latest budget about fiscal consolidation even though taxes have increased and economy is growing.
As for Mani Shankar Aiyar, he is lots of noise and very little action. No wonder he appeared in the rediff's list of most talkative ministers!
As Eswar rightly pointed out, the top ministries of Home, Defense and Foreign affairs have all been pathetic. Now, you could be winning all the local matches, but it is the big one's that count!
Maybe, your blog title should read, "at india inc. , we mean small and loud business !!". There's still a long way to go before this Govt. gets there.
Shankar's mudhalvan? - Dream on baby!
Just to add..in rediff's Capital Buzz there was a an item which made me feel very sad.
Whenever PM Manmohan Singh walked to his parliament house office through the central hall of parliament, nobody...i mean just nobody would even bother to glance at him. Usually the central hall is teaming with parliamentarians of all political hues. Hardly one or 2 congressmen would, out of courtesy, acknowledge the PMs presence. For his part the PM would just to continue to walk to his office with one of his secretaries in tow.
Compared to this, when Smt Sonia Gandhi walks by the central hall on the way to her office in the complex, congressmen would jump over each other to pay their respects. Even the oldies would sprint ahead to intercept her in her path just to offer a respectfull "bow".
Damn...what a shamefull thing.
Hello mate niice blog
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