The Hindu : Front Page : VS may retain Public Works portfolio

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Tuesday, Sep 04, 2007
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VS may retain Public Works portfolio

Special Correspondent

Likely to wait till Kerala Congress (J) State executive meet on September 15

Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan is likely to retain the Public Works portfolio till September 15, by which time the Kerala Congress (J) is expected to announce its new Minister.

Mr. Achuthanandan has already made it clear that neither the CPI(M) nor the LDF wishes to deny any Front constituent’s rightful claim to a place in the Cabinet. This would imply that he would be ready to wait till the KC(J) comes up with a new name or decides to go without a Minister, the latter option being most unlikely in the current context.

It is not immediately clear whether the Chief Minister would opt to answer questions and submissions relating to the Public Works Department in the Assembly by himself or authorise one of his Cabinet colleagues to perform the task. He has a heavy workload, but may still opt to do the job himself at least for the time being. The CPI(M) State leadership may get the opportunity to discuss the issue at length only on Friday.

Joseph’s chances

The KC(J) State executive is scheduled to meet on September 15 to take a decision on the new Minister. Speculation is already rife about the possibility of party chairman P.J. Joseph returning to the job that he had relinquished following sexual harassment charges against him. It is not certain whether he would be cleared of the charges before September 15. There is no possibility of the other LDF constituents agreeing to his return till he is cleared of the charges. Local Self Government Minister and senior CPI(M) leader Paloli Mohammed Kutty has already said as much during his interaction with mediapersons at Malappuram on Monday.

When the KC(J) working committee met at Thodupuzha on Sunday, one section had argued that the party should go without any representative in the Cabinet for some time, perhaps with the possibility of Mr. Joseph being cleared of the charge against him in the near future in their mind. However, this argument had not found favour with everybody and it was, therefore, decided to defer a decision on the issue till September 15. The party will have to decide one way or the other on that date or risk losing its place in the Cabinet.

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