Modi revamps Cabinet to repair popularity ahead of India polls

[NEW DELHI] India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi overhauled his Cabinet in a bid to repair his dented image as the nation emerges from its devastating Covid-19 outbreak ahead of key state elections.

Fifteen Cabinet ministers and several junior ministers were sworn in by President Ram Nath Kovind at a ceremony in the colonial-era president's palace in New Delhi Wednesday.

Ruling party loyalists Hardeep Singh Puri and Anurag Singh Thakur were among those elevated to Cabinet rank.

Ahead of the reshuffle Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar were among 12 ministers who resigned, a statement from the president's office said. Ministers holding significant portfolios including finance, foreign affairs, home affairs and defense have been retained.

Mr Vardhan was in charge of India's Covid-19 strategy and came under fire as the country struggled to contain a devastating second wave of infections in April and May. Mr Modi's usually unshakable popularity fell as the country's health infrastructure almost collapsed. Major cities ran out of oxygen, hospitals were overwhelmed with patients and crematoriums struggled to keep pace with the rising death toll.

Mr Prasad's resignation follows the government's bruising legal fight with social media giants including Twitter and Facebook , while Mr Javadekar exits his post at a time when there is growing pressure on India to zero out its greenhouse gas emissions ahead of China.

Sarbananda Sonowal, the former chief minister of Assam, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Narayan Rane, Bhupender Yadav and Ashwini Vaishnaw are among the leaders from Mr Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party who were included in the Cabinet. Their portfolios are likely to be announced later.

This is Mr Modi's fourth Cabinet change since coming to power in 2014 and the first in his second term. His government's ratings dropped from 75 per cent in 2019 to 51 per cent this year, according to the LocalCircles polling company survey released May 29, providing one of the first indications that Modi's enduring appeal with voters may be fading.

Along with boosting vaccine production in order to inoculate India's large adult population, Mr Modi also needs to revive the pandemic-hit economy, which is just showing signs of recovery after a record contraction.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on June 28 unveiled fresh aid, including extension of the loan-guarantee programme, to cushion the economic impact of the pandemic. The measures are seen by most economists as falling short, forcing the Reserve Bank of India to stay accommodative for longer despite growing price pressures.

People in India experienced significant suffering during the pandemic, and this reshuffle is "an attempt to boost Modi's eroding image and correct the falling creditability of his government," said Satish Misra, a New Delhi-based independent political analyst.

"This is also to accommodate some leaders from his party and allies ahead of state assembly elections next year."

Elections to five state assemblies including Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur will take place in the first half of 2022. Mr Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party rules all these states except Punjab. Winning Uttar Pradesh is crucial for Mr Modi to retain power in the 2024 general elections.

BLOOMBERG