Samata associate takes on BJP

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 4. The Cabinet reshuffle, leading to change of portfolios of two Ministers belonging to the Janata Dal (United) and the Lok Janshakti, has upset the allies with a Samata Party member criticising the exercise.

Last week's reshuffle, which saw the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, move Mr. Sharad Yadav and Mr. Ramvilas Paswan, out of Civil Aviation and Communications to Labour and Coal & Mines respectively, has been questioned by Mr. Dayanand Sahay, Rajya Sabha MP associated with the Samata.

``The argument that Cabinet reshuffle and expansion are the prerogative of the Prime Minister is valid only when there is a single party rule, and not when he is heading a coalition Government,'' Mr. Sahay told correspondents here.

He said that under a coalition it was necessary that all partners were taken into confidence and carried along. ``It is not just sharing of power but decision making too.'' Mr. Sahay, who got elected to the Rajya Sabha as an independent, is a member of the Samata national executive and also has taken part in the Parliamentary party meetings.

Mr. Sahay also felt that the Samata leader, Mr. George Fernandes, who was instrumental in bringing together several parties to the BJP camp and removed the `untouchability' factor the party experienced in 1996, was being rendered increasingly `untouchable' himself by the BJP. Predicting that the `insult' heaped by the BJP on its allies was a wake-up call, he warned that it could disturb the delicate balance in the ruling coalition leading to gradual spread of distrust. Although, Mr. Sahay's views were his own, it was symptomatic of the feeling among the allies.

Soon after the reshuffle, both Mr. Paswan, who now heads the Lok Janshakti, an outfit he created from splitting the Janata Dal (United), spoke to Mr. Sharad Yadav, JD(U) chief.

There are reports that on Monday, two Ministers from Orissa belonging to the Biju Janata Dal had called on the Labour Minister, Mr. Sharad Yadav. Apparently, these Ministers shared notes and conveyed the BJD's views on the reshuffle.

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Section  : National
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