Is Smriti a proxy in the HRD Ministry

Smriti Irani taking charge of the Ministry of Human Resource Development on Tuesday, May 27, 2014 in Shastri Bhawan New Delhi.

Smriti Zubin Irani, 38, the youngest minister in the Modi cabinet has been allocated the Ministry of Human Resource Development. The move has surprised many political observers who have given vent to their views and venom on social media as well as in private gatherings.

Irani, a higher secondary passout, with a soap entertainer background, was pitted against Rahul Gandhi in Amethi and, indeed, gave him a tough fight, loosing by just a few thousand votes. Obviously this does not qualify her for the august Ministry of Human Resource Development which was, in the recent past, graced by giants like Murli Manohar Joshi, Arjun Singh and Kapil Sibal.

Higher Education experts and political observers are at their wits end to solve this mind-boggling riddle behind Modi's ministry-making exercise. Smriti is a sitting Rajya Sabha member who was elected from Gujarat in 2011 and hence doesn't need a bye-election route to Parliament till 2016. But then what prompted Narendra Modi to award the high-profile MHRD portfolio to her?

Is she being used as proxy, a stop-gap arrangement, till a political heavy-weight --may be Dr Murli Manohar Joshi -- agrees to step in ?

Awarding a 38-year-old youngster a cabinet rank could be a part of a win-win political quid pro quo between Modi and Irani. By this clever move Modi would get time to subdue as well as cajole Dr Joshi to don the MHRD which he did over a decade ago. Smriti, in the bargain, would get a cabinet berth which she could not have aspired for otherwise. She would, it goes without saying, move to a minor arena whenever asked to.

Second possibility can be a situation in which the MHRD is to be administered from the prime minister's office as was the case during Pallam Raju's tenure in the MHRD, particularly the fag-end period. In such a situation it would be worth watching a novice Smriti Irani chairing the next meeting of the Central Advisory Board for Education where experienced and aggressive state education ministers from hostile states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal et al simply refuse to toe the Central government line.  

The third remote possibility could be that Modi plans to follow the policy of rigorous administration in basic and secondary education, giving higher education a sumptuous dose of autonomy.

Guesswork and political speculations apart one thing is certain : Smrity Irani is the biggest gainer of the 2014 BJP/Modi wave and Mr Modi, an astute politician will have to answer many questions for making a mountain out of a molehill.

History, we must remember, is a ruthless prosecutor.