Political / Rajnath inducted into Cabinet panel following controversy

Prime Minister Narendra Modi — after setting up two Cabinet sub-committees for economic growth and investment, and for jobs and skills — reconstituted six other Cabinet sub-committees on Thursday.

A piquant situation arose with the formation of these committees after the Cabinet Secretariat issued an amendment on these sub-committees, adding Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s name to the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) as well as the committees on jobs and economic growth.

The late amendment was an attempt by the government to undo some of the damage after Mr. Singh, despite being number two in the government as per protocol, found himself excluded from these crucial committees, raising a question over a new pecking order in the government with Home Minister Amit Shah as the de facto number two.

Government sources were mum on why Mr. Singh was excluded in the first place, but said his exclusion from the CCPA and the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs was an oversight that was corrected.

The other major presence in most of these sub-committees is Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Allies find a place

In the CCPA, apart from heavyweight Ministers from the BJP, NDA allies like Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Heavy Industries Minister Arvind Sawan find a place.