Nirmala Means Business

More than a symbolic strike for womanhood, Nirmala sitharaman’s elevation has to do with turning around the defence ministry with make in India

- Sandeep Unnithan

SOMETIME LATER THIS YEAR, INDIA’S NEW DEFENCE MINISTER, NIRMALA SITHARAMAN, 58, COULD BE EXPECTED TO PERFORM A SMALL CEREMONY. SHE WILL HAVE TO APPLY VERMILION, FOLD HER HANDS IN PRAYER AND CRACK AN AUSPICIOUS COCONUT ON THE STEEL FIN OF INDIA’S 7,000-TONNE INDIGENOUSLY DESIGNED AND BUILT BALLISTIC MISSILE SUBMARINE (SSBN) WHICH SHE WILL ALSO NAME THE ‘ARIDAMAN’ (DESTROYER OF ENEMIES). NAVAL TRADITIONS CALL FOR WARSHIPS TO BE LAUNCHED BY WOMEN AND THIS ROLE HAS IN recent years been reserved for first ladies. This task was last performed by ex­prime minister Man­mohan Singh’s wife Gursha ran Kaur when she launched India’s first SSBN, the INS Arihant, in ’09.

The choice of Sitharaman will be more than just symbolic because she is now part of the committee which also steers one of India’s most secret strategic programmes. Her appointment as India’s first full­time defence minister in the September 3 cabinet reshuffle was a surprise. In fact, Jaitley’s scheduled two­day trip to Japan to head the annual defence dialogue with his Japanese counterpart had even led the BJP to believe that he would continue to retain the ministry.

At around 1 pm after taking the oath of office at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, and after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Air India One had lifted off for China, Sithara­man received a call from cabinet secretary P.K. Sinha, requesting her to come to Arun Jaitley’s 2, Krishna Menon Marg residence. When she arrived, her political mentor Jaitley broke the news— she was going to be India’s first full­time woman defence minister. There was the issue of Jaitley’s trip to Japan, planned months earlier. Sitharaman could take over as de­fence minister and travel to Tokyo the same evening, or allow Jaitley to proceed as planned. Sitharaman was in no hurry and opted to wait for four more days to take over.