Fans of Sherlock Holmes will remember the question the great detective once asked: Why did the dog not bark? A slight variation of that question in Naya Bharat at the start of the monsoon session of parliament would be: Why has the much talked about Union cabinet reshuffle not taken place?There is also a related question: Why has the new president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) not been able to put in place a new team of his own? For months, political journalists and professional gossip-mongers have been encouraged (in off-the-record conversations) to talk about an ‘impending’ reshuffle. There has been much speculation about who would be in and who could possibly be asked to go to the ‘organisation.’ There was even the suggestion of some kind of a Kamaraj Plan. Various deadlines were also announced for a grand mid-term reorganisation of ‘Team Modi’.Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty.Since no questions are allowed to be asked, everybody remains in the dark about the delay. It cannot be anybody’s case that Narendra Modi has to negotiate a reshuffle through some kind of a panchayat. He is not a ‘weak’ prime minister like his predecessor, who was often constrained by the Congress leadership and its preferences. Nor are there cabinet ministers – with the possible exception of home minister Amit Shah – who are immovable or indispensable. Very much like an American president, Modi is the lord and master of his cabinet and everybody serves at his pleasure.The grand assumption – call it a national conceit – is that under the constitution we have a ‘cabinet system of government’ with collective responsibility and, therefore, collective functioning. Technically, that may be so – but that’s about it. In the past 12 years, much of the cabinet’s composition – or the putative ‘competence’ of its members – has had nothing to do with the real business of decision-making. And there has been no instance of any cabinet minister resigning because he or she did not agree with a decision taken by the prime minister – unilaterally or by the rubber-stamp cabinet.To be sure, the Union cabinet does meet once a week to endorse decisions that have been taken elsewhere – ‘policies’ negotiated with and among the crony corporate friends of the ruling clique. And, of course, these ‘polices’ are then further diluted, twisted or re-interpreted as per the exertions and vigour of the lobbyists, middle-men and money bags.So, the real question refuses to go away: If Modi does not need a cabinet reshuffle to continue doing whatever he pleases, why encourage loose talk about this person being shown the door or that person being admitted inside the tent? For example, there has been the most intense speculation for months about the ‘almost certain departure’ of Nirmala Sitharaman from the finance ministry. Some very eminent names have been bandied about as her replacement. Of course, it would be a grave injustice if Sitharaman were asked to make way for someone else. After all, throughout the past decade – on every single day, on every single occasion, and from every single outlet of falsification – we have been told that the country’s economy is the best performing, most solid and most dynamic in the world.Also read: Seven Reasons Why This Massive Students’ Protest in Delhi is Different and Has Rattled the Modi RegimeOnly the other day, the prime minister was publicly patting himself and his government for having steered the Indian economy during the on-going West Asia crisis. He boasted that it was his government’s jalwa, or brilliance, that saw our economy through. So, why bother to fix it if it is not broken?Many observers are inclined to believe that a certain fatigue – mental and physical – has settled upon the national leadership and debilitated it. It has also been suggested that as a true swayamsevak, the prime minister has been deeply pained and disappointed over the unholy embezzlement at the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. Those who have tracked Modi over the years argue that he has risen above the hurly burly of everyday politics and even administration, and is not to be easily distracted by a broken bridge here or an aviation disaster there or the total collapse of the education system. He will carry on discharging the burden of office as best he can, irrespective of the public clamour for performance or accountability. Ministers do not figure in his scheme of things; they are there because the constitution obliges him to have them.Others suggest that the deep-rooted impulse – now embraced by everyone in the ruling class – to not be answerable to anyone still remains the dominant trait. The opposition and lay citizens – at Jantar Mantar or anywhere else – can keep on demanding accountability but they are to be rebuffed. “Stuff happens,” as a certain American politician reminded us, while the great juggernaut of ‘vikas’ continues apace. There is simply no place for the call for ministerial accountability. If things go wrong, there are enough bureaucrats who can be thrown under the bus.Also read: The Movement Is Now Larger than Sonam Wangchuk and the CJPBecause the notion of accountability and the sense of responsibility that goes with it have been discredited as a short-cut to paralysis, a cabinet reshuffle cannot be deemed a standard instrument available to the prime minister. As and when – and if at all – it comes about, it would be an exercise in the re-assertion of control and command. No promise of good governance in this age of Ram Rajya.Harish Khare was editor-in-chief of The Tribune.This piece was first published on The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire – and has been updated and republished here. To subscribe to The India Cable, click.