BJP asserts its right to key berths

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 4. In a bid to stop muted criticism of the recent reshuffle of portfolios in the Council of Ministers by its allies, the Bharatiya Janata Party today asserted that ``since it is the largest partner'' in the National Democratic Alliance coalition, ``it will naturally get a larger share of the so- called important portfolios.''

The party spokesperson, Mr. Sunil Shastri, also refuted the allegations of the Congress that the reshuffle had demonstrated to the allies that the BJP considers them to be `jettisonable cargo'. Dismissing this criticism as a pointer to despair and frustration in the Congress, Mr. Shastri said the BJP considers the ministerial allocation exercise as the sole prerogative of the Prime Minister which needed no reference to or consultation with the allies.

Although for the moment the allies are not making too much noise publicly, the resentment at the shunting out of Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan and Mr. Sharad Yadav from the comparatively high-profile ministries of Communications and Civil Aviation to the less coveted Coal and Mines and Labour was more than obvious.

There is a view among the allies that if they do not speak up now, in the next reshuffle they may find themselves pushed down even further. After all, the top four ministries - Home, Finance, External Affairs and Defence - are all held by the BJP, and the next six ministries always considered fairly high profile - Human Resource Development, Information and Broadcasting, Railways, Communications, Civil Aviation and Law - are now also held by the BJP except for Railways which is with Samata Party's Nitish Kumar.

But the party today tried to argue that ``all Ministries have important tasks to perform and every Minister gets an opportunity to make the best of the portfolio given to him.'' But that still does not explain why the important men in the BJP have not been given these other ``important ministries'' where important tasks are to be performed.

In the last Budget the Finance Minister, Mr. Yashwant Sinha, had hinted at labour reforms to facilitate a virtual hire- and-fire policy in all industrial and commercial units employing 1,000 or less workers. Now if this is pushed through, it will certainly not be a popular measure, and Mr. Sharad Yadav may find himself performing this thankless job rather than the BJP man, Mr. Satyanarain Jatiya, who was moved out.

As for the ``performance criterion'' many Ministers of State who have themselves confessed that in their entire tenure of more than two years they have not signed a single file or taken even one decision found themselves continuing in their jobs. That itself discounts claims being made that efficiency was rewarded by the Prime Minister.

Mr. Shastri also claimed today that although the BJP was the bigger partner, it treated all constituents of the NDA ``with equal respect.'' But certainly he has not been able to convince the partners that they have been treated with respect.

The Shiv Sena chief had voiced his views much earlier that the Sena deserved more important portfolios. The Samata Party continues to be unhappy with Mr. George Fernandes waiting out and the Lok Janshakti and JD(U) chiefs find themselves shifted summarily.

Ms. Maneka Gandhi, a loyal independent has not cared to hide her irritation, while the Trinamool and the PMK are hardly in a position to say anything having just re-entered the NDA.

The Akali Dal is expecting to be mauled in the coming Punjab Assembly elections and has little clout as also the DMK which has lost some weight after losing the Tamil Nadu elections. By default the BJP is feeling stronger.

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Section  : National
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