Dikhyaa Mohanty 
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going for the kill. And, his stakes are high. He plans a Cabinet reshuffle ahead of the impending elections in some states, notably, the political heartland Uttar Pradesh. The long-term strategy, of course, is to beef up his team ahead of the Parliamentary elections of 2024 where he seeks a mandate to be voted to power again.
When the talk of Cabinet rejigs is doing the rounds, the grapevine is on new faces who may be inducted into Modi’s team. The expanded Cabinet will have more leaders from Uttar Pradesh, understandably. But Odisha is also slated to get representation. The name doing the rounds in Delhi Durbar and the national media is that of Ashwini Vaishnaw, the incumbent Rajya Sabha MP for the BJP from Odisha. Remember this gentleman- the bureaucrat turned politician who got elected to the Upper House with the blessings of the BJD? The BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik had literally gifted an MP to the rival BJP, triggering considerable speculation on the BJD-BJP alliance than in June 2019.
Historically, Odisha has been under-represented in central cabinets. But, equations seem to be changing with the Modi government. Today, you have two Odia heavyweights as ministers with plum portfolios in the Union Cabinet- Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas & Skill Development and Pratap Chandra Sarangi, the Minister for MSME.
Speculation is gaining ground that Vaishnaw will get a crucial assignment. And, the upwardly mobile MP deserves it richly. He has stunning academic credentials and a glittering career first in civil services and later in the corporate world before diving into the pool of politics. His education began with a program in electronics and communications engineering at Jai Narayan Vyas University, Rajasthan, in 1992, followed by an M.Tech at IIT Kanpur, before he cracked IAS in 1994 with an all-India rank of 27. In 2008, Vaishnaw moved to the United States to study at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.
During his time as a collector in the Balasore district, the National Human Rights Commission expressed its appreciation for the sincerity, dedication and commitment displayed by Vaishnaw while organizing and executing relief and rehabilitation work in the district.
Odisha was hit by a super cyclone in 1999 that killed thousands of people. Vaishnaw tracked cyclone movement online prior to the super cyclone hitting the state. He tracked the cyclone every hour and sent a report to the chief secretary at regular intervals, so the Odisha government had a lot of information about it. By using this information, the government took the necessary steps to save many lives
He worked in Odisha until 2003 when he was appointed deputy secretary in the office of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Following a brief stint in the PMO where he helped create the public-private partnership framework for infrastructure projects, Vaishnaw was appointed as Vajpayee’s private secretary after the BJP-led NDA lost the 2004 election. In 2006, he was appointed deputy chairman of Mormugao Port Trust, where he worked for two years. He has also served as the Managing Director of Brahmani River Pellets Ltd (BRPL).
Ashwini Vaishnaw has argued in Parliament that the current economic slowdown is cyclical in nature and is not a structural slowdown and that it is likely to bottom out by March and would be followed by solid growth. Vaishnaw firmly believes that the way to build the country is to put the money in investment rather than putting money in consumption.[15]
The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019 has also been supported by Vaishnaw in the Rajya Sabha. According to him, reducing or rationalizing the tax structure will increase the competitiveness of the Indian industry and also help develop the industry’s capital base. While defending, he argued that the particular rationalization of tax structure will help corporations to de-leverage and increase profits and reserves that will lay the foundation for structural growth in the economy.
Apart from these, he has spoken on topics such as the Ship Recycling Bill and Women Protection in Rajya Sabha to further the public discourse on these topics.
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