Sunday, Jan 19, 2003
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By Mahesh Vijapurkar
Sushil Kumar Shinde taking oath as Chief Minister of Maharashtra in Mumbai on Saturday.
Except for Mr. Shinde, no other Congress leader was inducted into the Ministry, which has six independents. There was no new face. Mr. Shinde succeeds Vilasrao Deshmukh, who was asked to step down by the party high command. The constitution of the ministerial team, predominantly of independents and those from the smaller parties, shows the heavy dependence on them for securing a trust vote on January 22. The Nationalist Congress Party's four heavyweights, including Chhagan Bhujbal — again sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister — find berths in the new Ministry. Earlier, the idea was that Mr. Shinde would consult the high command about the constitution of his side of the coalition team before they are brought in while the entire line-up of the NCP as it was in the outgoing Government was to be administered the oath of office and that the independents would be kept waiting till they vote on the January 22 confidence motion. However, the plan was changed to ensure that the risks were limited since independents have a tendency to switch loyalties. The uncertainty among Congressmen, however, is palpable because they have not been told who among them and when they would be taken into the Ministry. Mr. Shinde, who has the unenviable task of steering a possible pre-poll alliance for the October 2004 Assembly elections with the Nationalist Congress Party and delivering the State out of the financial mess it finds itself in, would have to reconcile several contradictions within the party before he shapes his side in the coalition. The AICC's pointman for Maharashtra, Vayalar Ravi, who supervised the changeover from Mr. Deshmukh to Mr. Shinde, was present but the anxious Congressmen around wanted to know when their turn would come. Two more phases of induction have been announced but that will take some time. Those from the NCP who have become Cabinet Ministers are Mr. Bhujbal, Vijaysinh Mohite Patil, Madhukar Pichad and Padmasinh Patil. Two others, Harshwardhan Patil, an independent and Dasharath Bhande from the RPI-Bahujan Mahasangh, too, were given Cabinet status. The rest, including the Janata Dal (Secular)'s Dada Jadhavrao, retained their Ministers of State status of the out-going Ministry. None of the smaller parties has more than three MLAs and some are single-MLA entities in the legislature. The line up includes: Sulekha Kumbhare (RPI-Gavai), Dharmarao Atram (Gondwana Ganatantra Party), Ramdas Bodkhe (BRP-Bahujan Mahasangh), Sanjay Deshmukh, Shivaji Kardile, Ajit Ghorpade, Vinayakrao Jadhav and Digambar Bagal, all independents. Now, there is hardly any independent who matters has been left out; if any, some other office of profit awaits them, sooner than later. "What we want," some have been saying, is an "amber beacon on our cars'' and "some work in our constituencies.'' The swearing-in ceremony, conducted in Marathi, was witnessed among others by the former President, K.R. Narayanan.
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