The soft-spoken but articulate Sitharaman, replaced the experienced Arun Jaitley, who continues as finance minister.
The JNU alumna — she is an MA in economics — came to know of her portfolio hours after taking oath as a Cabinet-rank minister.
Sitharaman is the first full-time woman occupant of the South Block perch.
NEW DELHI: PM Narendra Modi on Sunday picked Nirmala Sitharaman as India's first full-time woman defence minister, delivering the biggest surprise in a Cabinet recast+ that saw nine new ministers being sworn in, elevating the next generation of BJP leaders+ to key berths and inducting in-house technocrats with an eye on the 2019 polls.
The soft-spoken but articulate Sitharaman, 58, who was an influential BJP spokesperson during the 2014 Modi campaign, and was minister of state with independent charge for commerce, replaced the experienced Arun Jaitley, who continues as finance minister.
The JNU alumna — she is an MA in economics — came to know of her portfolio hours after taking oath as a Cabinet-rank minister.
With external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, Sitharaman will be the second woman member of the Cabinet Committee on Security, an elite ministerial group that deliberates on major strategic issues.
While Indira Gandhi held charge as defence minister as PM, Sitharaman is the first full-time woman occupant of the South Block perch, breaching an enduring glass ceiling as she assumes responsibility of a male-dominated military where demands for allowing women in combat roles are gaining traction. "I will look at the issue (of women in combat roles) with an open mind," she said soon after the portfolios were announced.
Her record in the commerce ministry was attacked by Congress, which pointed to low exports, but the government highlighted India being the top destination for greenfield foreign direct investment (FDI) and Sitharaman's record in handling tough multilateral trade negotiations.
The Cabinet changes are seen to reflect Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah's assessment of performance and accountability of the ministerial team.
PM bid to pace up growth in key areas
Among the younger leaders, Piyush Goyal takes charge of railways after several accidents, including the recent derailment of Utkal Express, dented the government's record in the rail sector.
Nine new ministers brought into the government indicate the PM's priorities, as he looks to accelerate delivery in areas with a significant bearing on the economy and jobs like housing, urban planning, river cleanup and transport, power and renewable energy and tourism along with pushing reforms in defence and railways.
Former DDA "demolition man" Alphons Kannanthanam will be in charge of tourism while former foreign service hand Hardeep Puri will be responsible for housing and urban affairs.
Both are former civil servants and currently not MPs. R K Singh, a former home secretary, has been given the important portfolio of power and renewables.
Goyal, who has been BJP treasurer, is an experienced party hand, being part of campaign planning at the national level. A CA by training, he is seen as an instinctive reformer who keeps a close eye on outcomes and costs and his main task will be to get the factious railway bureaucracy to pull in one direction.
Seen as a possible CM face for BJP in Odisha, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan has delivered on schemes like Pahal and Ujjwala — the latter viewed as a factor that worked with poor households receiving cooking gas in the UP elections. He now also has the charge of skill development.
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has been elevated as cabinet minister and continues to hold charge of MoS parliamentary affairs and independent charge of minority affairs.
The chopping and changing that saw six ministers resign ahead of the reshuffle also saw downsizing of senior leader Uma Bharati, who has shed the water resources and Ganga rejuvenation portfolio and has been moved to sanitation.
Though the portfolio is important in terms of the prominence given to Swachh Bharat, the ministry is seen to be run by officials under the PMO's guidance.
Delhi leader Vijay Goel lost independent charge of sports, a comment on his tendency to get involved in the state party's affairs and factional politics.
Nirmala Seetharaman, the pride of Tiruchi
She is the second woman Defence Minister after late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
Most Tiruchites were glued to the television on Sunday as the ‘daughter of the soil’ Nirmala Seetharaman took oath as the Defence Minister of the nation.
She is the second woman Defence Minister of the country after the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who held the post.
Faculties and students of Seethalakshmi Ramaswami College where the new Defence Minister had studied B.A. Economics from 1977 to 1980, were on cloud nine.
Institutions in Tiruchi have always had the pride of place for having shaped the future of two former Presidents R. Venkataraman and A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who had their moorings in National College and St. Joseph's College respectively.
The student days of Ms. Nirmala Seetharaman at SRC was as much impressive, recalled Usha Chandrasekar, retired Head of English Department.
Ms. Seetharaman had a continuous association with the English Department as an active participant in debates, discussions and quiz competitions, Prof. Usha said.
The self-confidence and leadership material in her was very much evident even then, she said.
Ms. Nirmala had visited the college twice since 2011. When she visited for the first time during 2011, Ms. Seetharaman was the spokesperson of BJP.
Last year, the faculty and students had the privilege of interacting with her as the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry.
During her 2011 visit, Ms. Seetharaman was elated to meet a few of her former teachers, and shared with them nostalgic memories of her student days.
She had thanked the teachers for shaping her overall personality.
Nirmala Sitharaman as defence minister is neither best choice nor women's empowerment
Some of the electronic media response of hailing as women's empowerment the appointment of Ms Nirmala Sitharaman as India's full-time defence minister comes across as a classic case of self-deception with or without the aid of spin doctors who can transform for mass consumption the narrative of any new policy or current development.
Surely at a time when the tensions are ratcheting up on India's borders with not just Pakistan but China, it makes sense to have a defence minister with a credible background by way of some degree of domain expertise. Surely, it is not a coincidence that not just the USA but China currently has a former general holding the crucial portfolio of defence. The incumbent US National Security Adviser is also a retired general.
Nirmala Sitharaman's academic background shows an interest not so much in defence studies as in economics where, according to Wikipedia, she did her MA in JNU and followed that up with a MPhil and worked in PricewaterhouseCoopers as a senior manager before entering the political arena along with her husband who hailed from a political family and whose mother was an MLA.
One's intention is not in any way to denigrate Nirmala Sitharaman's contribution to public life. She has served for the last three years as minister of state holding independent charge of the portfolio of commerce and industry, something more aligned with her MA and MPhil academic studies. That she is one of four ministers of state to be promoted to Cabinet rank speaks well of her performance.
While wishing her well as the Modi government's full-time defence minister, the question still has to be asked as to whether she was the best choice for that crucial portfolio at a critical juncture. It is not as if the choice of a defence minister has to be restricted to those with ministerial experience in the 40-month-old Modi government.
The question also has to be asked whether any Indian who has served with distinction in the Indian Army, Navy or Air Force should automatically be disqualified from ever holding the portfolio of defence minister. Surely, if an economist can serve as India's finance minister or a lawyer as the minister for justice, why should someone who has served with distinction in the defence services automatically be disqualified even after retirement from ever being India's defence minister. The defence establishment in India has a fine tradition of serving the democratically-elected government. India is not Pakistan where generals periodically overthrow elected governments. India has a number of retired generals, admirals and air marshals, who have served with distinction, and one of them could have been entrusted with the defence portfolio.
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