* Pak releases 151 Indian fishermen ahead of Sharif visit
NEW DELHI, May 25:
Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Venkaiah Naidu and Shiv Sena’s Anant Geete are likely to be included in a compact Cabinet headed by Narendra Modi who has decided on a radical restructuring of the Government with one Cabinet Minister heading a cluster of departments in complementary sectors.
A day ahead of his being sworn in as India’s 15th Prime Minister, it was stated on behalf of Modi that one Cabinet Minister would head a cluster of Ministries working in complementary sectors so as to ensure convergence in the activities of various ministries.
Top layers of the Government would eventually be downsized and there would be expansion at the grass root level, according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister-designate’s secretariat from Gujarat Bhawan where he has been ensconced for the last four days holding consultations on his Government formation.
In forming his Cabinet, Modi has adopted the principle of “minimum Government and maximum governance” and also “rationalisation with a commitment to bring a change in the work culture and style of governance,” it said.
The statement came at the end of another day of guessing game about the names of Ministers to figure in the Modi Cabinet that will be sworn in at 6 pm tomorrow.
Till late tonight, even Rashtrapati Bhavan had received no list of Ministers from the Prime Minister-designate. The final list is now expected to be sent tomorrow morning.
However, indications were that Jaitley would get Finance, Rajnath will be in charge of Home and Gadkari one of the infrastructure Ministries.
Geete would also have a Cabinet portfolio.
Other names making the rounds for the Cabinet include Sushma Swaraj, Ananth Kumar, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Uma Bharti, Harsh Vardhan and Piyush Goel.
Sources said that the number of Ministers would be between 30 and 35 which would be much smaller than usual. However, an expansion of the Ministry may take place later.
There was no clarity on the role of Advani with some reports suggesting that he may not be made Lok Sabha Speaker which he is said to favour but he may continue as NDA chairman.
In that case, Sumitra Mahajan, a senior BJP Parliamentarian and former Minister, may become the Speaker. Deputy Speaker in the outgoing Lok Sabha, Karia Munda’s name is also being speculated for this post.
NDA ally TDP has recommended the name of party MP Ashok Gajapathi Raju, who won from Vizianagaram Lok Sabha constituency, to be inducted into the Union Cabinet.
Sources said Shiromani Akali Dal, an old ally of BJP, may find a place in the Union Cabinet and the SAD leadership is learnt to have suggested the names of Harsimrat Badal and Naresh Gujral.
Once party president Rajnath Singh joins the Cabinet, his replacement would be worked out along with restructuring of the party and the name of J P Nadda is learnt to have been cleared by the party leadership and RSS to replace Rajnath.
The statement on behalf of Modi said he is aware of the “high expectations” of the people. For whole of four days, he was busy with the formation of the ministry and discussing various alternatives to effective governance, convergence and coordination between various ministries, it said.
Modi is eventually aiming at “smart governance” where the top layers of Government will be downsized and there would be expansionat the grass root level, the statement said.
“Earlier, there was political instability and multi-party governments and the ministry formation was almost done in a bifurcated manner,” it said.
The Prime Minister-designate, it said, tried in a rational manner to club like-minded departments in the ministry formation in such a way to “convert entity of assembled ministry to organic entity”.
The statement went on to add that integrated and inter-connected nature of governance is being focussed in this “new dent”.
In the ministry formation, the process of development will be “more inclusive” than it has been, it said.
At the outset, the statement said Modi has made a “dent in formation of ministries”.
“It is a good beginning in transforming entity of assembled ministries to organic ministries. It will bring more coordination between different departments and will be more effective and bring a spee in process,” it said.
Amid hectic parleys, a host of leaders including Ghaziabad MP and former Army Chief Gen VK Singh, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Ananth Kumar, Jagdish Mukhi and Sheohar MP Rama Devi met Rajnath Singh.
The swearing-in ceremony of Modi will take place tomorrow at 1800 hours in the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
The 15th Prime Minister of India will take oath in the presence of nearly 3,000 guests, including leaders from SAARC countries like Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
President Pranab Mukherjee will administer the oath of office and secrecy to 63-year-old Modi and his Council of Ministers in the presence of a host of leaders, including outgoing Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi besides leaders of various other parties and Chief Ministers of a number of states.
Modi’s mother Hiraba is also expected to attend the ceremony.
Besides Sharif and Rajapaksa, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom will be among the foreign dignitaries attending the ceremony.
Bangladesh will be represented by Speaker Shirin Chaudhury as Premier Sheikh Hasina would be travelling to Japan at the time of the swearing-in ceremony.
This is the first time that the heads of States of SAARC nations have been invited to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the Indian Prime Minister.
Following in the footsteps of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Modi had expressed his desire to be sworn in at the forecourt so that a large number of visitors can be accommodated for the ceremony.
Earlier, Chandrashekar was another Prime Minister who had taken oath at the same venue.
The historic Durbar Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhawan is the usual venue for such ceremonies. But since it can accommodate about 500 people, the forecourt was decided as the suitable venue.
Known for his decisiveness and governance skills, Modi will be heading the first government in 30 years where a single party has the absolute majority.
It has been a remarkable journey to the top during which he has been pilloried by his critics and adored by his supporters who believe he will pull India out of the rut in which it is stuck.
“I believe God has chosen me,” Modi had said in the course of his relentless and focused election campaign that got BJP its highest-ever tally of 282 seats, 10 more than the required majority number in the 543-member Lok Sabha, and catapulted the Gujarat Chief Minister to the pinnacle of power.
The BJP leader himself saw a combination of a very strong anti-Congress wave “together with an equally strong wave for BJP and its NDA partners” during the marathon campaign and seized upon these to decimate the UPA.
A ground-to-air security cover on par with the Republic Day parade is being put in place for the swearing-in.
Delhi Police said a multi-layered security ring is being thrown around Raisina Hills and all offices around it will be closed five hours before the event takes place.
“The offices around Rashtrapati Bhavan will be shut at 1 PM following which they will be sanitised by security agencies. The security will be on par with R-Day parade,” said a senior police official.
Sources said that IAF will put in place an air defence system to secure the skies and snipers will be deployed on all high-rise buildings around the high-security area.
Police said all roads around Raisina Hills that lead to Rashtrapati Bhawan will be barricaded as part of the security measures.
Mobile hit teams, anti-aircraft guns and sharpshooters of NSG will also be deployed besides paramilitary personnel and Delhi Police commandos to secure the area.
Arrangements are being made at Rashtrapati Bhawan for all the visiting VVIPs who will also be accompanied by their diplomatic teams, official sources said.
Rashtrapati Bhawan is giving the final shape to the preparations, which have been underway for the past few days.
The sprawling forecourt lawns of Rashtrapati Bhawan are ready for the gala swearing-in ceremony. The lawns have been filled with chairs and arrangements are being made for visitors to brave the summer heat in the national capital.
Meanwhile, Congress Chief Ministers of Karnataka and Kerala are not attending tomorrow’s swearing-in of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister while there was suspense on whether Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa will participate amid reports that she has decided to boycott it.
In Bangalore, officials said Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will skip the oath-taking ceremony in Delhi tomorrow.
In Thiruvananthapuram, officials said Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy is not attending the swearing-in ceremony, citing pre-scheduled engagements in the State.
According to officials in the Chief Minister’s Office, Chandy had received the invitation for the ceremony but informed Modi about his inability to be present on the occasion due to “pressing” engagements in the State.
Chandy, a senior Congress leader, will be meeting Modi during his next visit to Delhi, they said. Senior BJP leader O Rajagopal termed Chandy’s decision to skip the ceremony as “unfortunate”.
Jayalalithaa, who has opposed participation of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, today kept up the suspense over her participation in the ceremony. There were reports that she is likely to boycott it.
However, till late in the evening there was no official statement from the Government or the ruling AIADMK on either her participation or whether she would depute any emissary.
Last week, Jayalalithaa dubbed as “unfortunate” Modi’s invitation to Rajapaksa for his swearing-in, saying the “ill-advised” move could have been avoided as it amounted to “rubbing salt into the wounds of the already deeply injured Tamil psyche.”
Jayalalithaa and Modi had attended the swearing-in of each other as Chief Minister in the past.
Though the two leaders attacked each other during the final stages of the Lok Sabha poll campaign, they exchanged pleasantries over their respective emphatic wins last week, in a sign of warming up.
In a goodwill gesture, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today ordered the release of 151 Indian fishermen and 57 boats, a day ahead of the visit of his visit to India to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi.
Authorities released 59 Indian fishermen from the Malir jail in Karachi and another 92 from Nara jail in Hyderabad in Sindh province.
In accordance with Sharif’s instructions, the prisoners will be handed over to Indian authorities tomorrow at Wagah/Attari border, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a press release.
A senior official at Hyderabad jail said that a total of 97 Indian fishermen were shifted from Landhi jail Karachi to Hyderabad in January this year.
Four Indian fishermen remained in the prison as their verification was not done by the Indian authorities, he added.
He confirmed that earlier this month, Indian fisherman Arvind, 75, who was lodged at Hyderabad prison, died of tuberculosis.
The freed prisoners were taken in an air-conditioned bus from Karachi to Wagah border in Lahore.
Handing over of the boats is also being coordinated with the Indian Government, the statement said.
Pakistan is releasing all those fishermen whose status as Indian nationals has been confirmed by Indian authorities.
Some of the freed prisoners told Geo News channel that they were delighted to be going back to their families.
“We were treated well and not as serious criminals but everyone wants to go home to their families,” one prisoner said.
“I am delighted to be released,” said 55-year-old Jagdesh, whose son’s wedding was postponed after his arrest by Pakistan Navy.
“Now my son’s wedding will be held,” said Jagdesh.
This is the first time in many years that any side has decided to release the boats of these fishermen and it is Pakistan which is taking the first step, the statement said.
Pakistan has always said the “issue of prisoners in our respective countries is a humanitarian one and should be taken in that spirit”.
“According to our figures, there are 521 Pakistani prisoners in India, including 168 fishermen,” the statement said, adding “Government of Pakistan hopes that they too will be able to return to their loved ones in Pakistan soon.”
Last year in August, Pakistan had released around 337 Indian prisoners from jails. Later on Diwali also, 15 Indian fishermen were released as a goodwill gesture.
Pakistan maritime security forces frequently arrest Indian fishermen and seize their boats for fishing in its territorial waters.
According to Indian activists, at present around 229 Indian fishermen and about 780 Indian boats are in the custody of Pakistan.
In addition to this, 23 boats of Indian fishermen had been confiscated just during the ongoing fishing season. (PTI)
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