It should not have been a surprise, considering her stature in the party. And yet, seeing Sushma Swaraj take the oath on Monday was still something to take note of. Although the portfolios still have not been announced officially, Swaraj is expected to be the External Affairs Minister, one of the most important, and most coveted, roles in government.
Her background — from youngest Cabinet minister in India to Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha — has certainly prepared her for a Raisina Hill ministry. Yet the elevation to the Hill does not change the fact that Swaraj is not exactly trusted by Narendra Modi or, for that matter, by anyone else in government. This is especially true since none of the other members of the old Lal Krishna Advani camp, such as the former PM candidate himself or Murli Manohar Joshi, have been picked for Modi’s cabinet.
So where does Swaraj go from here? It might prudent to look at the career of another politician whose ambitions for the top job had to be tempered in the face of an aspirational all-conquering leader, but was later brought into the cabinet nevertheless. When US President Barack Obama picked Hillary Clinton to be his Secretary of State (the American equivalent of external affairs minister) talk was rife of a new “team of rivals" — President Abraham Lincoln’s attempt to include senior leaders, even if they opposed him, in his government.
On Monday, as it became clear that Swaraj would get a senior post, the Modi Twitter fandom — many staunchly opposed to Swaraj because of her image as a NaMo opponent — began to talk of how “magnanimous” the new Prime Minister was being by including her. “Sushma, Ananth Kumar, Gadkari – these folks should count themselves lucky. Modi has been too magnanimous in his victory,” wrote Prasanna Viswanathan, the editor of a website called CentreRight.in.
Clinton too had to deal with being overshadowed by the barrage of support received by Obama in 2008, when he had beaten her in the Democratic primaries even though she was considered an “inevitable” candidate. Yet, despite constant interference from the the White House, she managed to make the Secretary of State position her own with an incessant work ethic and occasionally the ability to take an internal stand against the President.
Appraisals of her tenure are by and large positive. As secretary of state she was, in a sense, neutered as a political rival to Obama, forced to work for his administration. But she also acted as a power centre with the ability to drive an agenda. Being a powerful woman on the international stage also sent an important message.
Swaraj once had ambitions of being the prime minister and though she is in the same age bracket as Modi, she might yet hope to occupy the seat one day. Yet for the moment, she has been made the face of the Narendra Modi government globally, a position that will no doubt be crucial to Modi’s aims of ushering in an “Indian Century”.
This forces her to work for the Modi government but, even if the PMO ends up dictating foreign policy, there will be plenty of opportunity to leave her mark on a ministry that is begging for a radical shake-up. Achieve it and she might yet find herself in Clinton's position: the US politician is now heavily favoured to win the Democratic nomination for the next election and most bookies see her as the most likely candidate to be President after Obama (albeit with a whole two years of campaigning ahead).
For now, with Modi beginning his first full day as prime minister with a series of bilateral meetings with SAARC leaders (and the President of Mauritius), Swaraj will have to hit the ground running.
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Her background — from youngest Cabinet minister in India to Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha — has certainly prepared her for a Raisina Hill ministry. Yet the elevation to the Hill does not change the fact that Swaraj is not exactly trusted by Narendra Modi or, for that matter, by anyone else in government. This is especially true since none of the other members of the old Lal Krishna Advani camp, such as the former PM candidate himself or Murli Manohar Joshi, have been picked for Modi’s cabinet.
So where does Swaraj go from here? It might prudent to look at the career of another politician whose ambitions for the top job had to be tempered in the face of an aspirational all-conquering leader, but was later brought into the cabinet nevertheless. When US President Barack Obama picked Hillary Clinton to be his Secretary of State (the American equivalent of external affairs minister) talk was rife of a new “team of rivals" — President Abraham Lincoln’s attempt to include senior leaders, even if they opposed him, in his government.
On Monday, as it became clear that Swaraj would get a senior post, the Modi Twitter fandom — many staunchly opposed to Swaraj because of her image as a NaMo opponent — began to talk of how “magnanimous” the new Prime Minister was being by including her. “Sushma, Ananth Kumar, Gadkari – these folks should count themselves lucky. Modi has been too magnanimous in his victory,” wrote Prasanna Viswanathan, the editor of a website called CentreRight.in.
Clinton too had to deal with being overshadowed by the barrage of support received by Obama in 2008, when he had beaten her in the Democratic primaries even though she was considered an “inevitable” candidate. Yet, despite constant interference from the the White House, she managed to make the Secretary of State position her own with an incessant work ethic and occasionally the ability to take an internal stand against the President.
Appraisals of her tenure are by and large positive. As secretary of state she was, in a sense, neutered as a political rival to Obama, forced to work for his administration. But she also acted as a power centre with the ability to drive an agenda. Being a powerful woman on the international stage also sent an important message.
Swaraj once had ambitions of being the prime minister and though she is in the same age bracket as Modi, she might yet hope to occupy the seat one day. Yet for the moment, she has been made the face of the Narendra Modi government globally, a position that will no doubt be crucial to Modi’s aims of ushering in an “Indian Century”.
This forces her to work for the Modi government but, even if the PMO ends up dictating foreign policy, there will be plenty of opportunity to leave her mark on a ministry that is begging for a radical shake-up. Achieve it and she might yet find herself in Clinton's position: the US politician is now heavily favoured to win the Democratic nomination for the next election and most bookies see her as the most likely candidate to be President after Obama (albeit with a whole two years of campaigning ahead).
For now, with Modi beginning his first full day as prime minister with a series of bilateral meetings with SAARC leaders (and the President of Mauritius), Swaraj will have to hit the ground running.
