PM yet to decide on Defence Minister

By Harish Khare

NEW DELHI, OCT. 13. The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, has yet to make up his mind on who should be his full-time Defence Minister, even though the swearing-in ceremony of the new entrant(s) to the Council of Ministers is scheduled to take place on Monday. The Prime Minister is reported to have come to the conclusion that the Minister for External Affairs, Mr. Jaswant Singh, should no longer be burdened with the additional responsibility of the Defence portfolio.

The choice before the Prime Minister is to reinduct the Tehelka- tainted-but-not-yet-exonerated Mr. George Fernandes in his old job at the Defence Ministry or to ask the seasoned Mr. K.C. Pant, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, to move to the South Bloc from the Yojana Bhavan.

The major problem in the Pant choice is that he would have to be elected to Parliament, and there seems to be no immediate vacancy in either the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha. The only Lok Sabha election due in the near future is the Guna constituency, but Mr. Pant can hardly be expected to take his chances against the young Mr. Jyotiraditya Scindia, who should win the seat hands-down against any opponent. As far as the Rajya Sabha is concerned, the BJP would have to ask one of its sitting members either in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh or Himachal Pradesh to resign to create a vacancy for Mr. Pant to contest and be reasonably sure of making it to the Upper House. Ideally, Mr. Pant should contest from his home State, Uttar Pradesh.

Though the Pant camp has observed a very becoming silence about the Deputy Chairman's prospects, it is widely believed that the speculation about Mr. Fernandes being reinducted emanated from the Yojana Bhavan corner. According to sources, the Prime Minister had taken note of the sharp and adverse reaction to the Mr. Fernandes-as-Defence-Minister idea from the Opposition parties. Mr. Fernandes had a 30-minute meeting with Mr. Vajpayee today.

The general view is that the Government's image would take a definite beating if the Prime Minister is seen as succumbing to pressure tactics by the Samata Party. Till such time as Mr. Fernandes gets exonerated, hopefully, by the Venkataswami Commission of Inquiry, his return to the Defence Ministry would be seen as a retreat from the BJP's stance of ``su-raj''.

However, though Mr. Vajpayee is aware of the moral judgment involved, he is also reported to be keen on using Mr. Fernandes' services for his administration. The ideal solution could be that should Mr. Pant be finally given the charge of Defence, Mr. Fernandes could take his place as the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, a position that carries with it the status and rank of Cabinet Minister.

Nonetheless, Mr. Vajpayee is expected to continue weighing the pros and cons till Monday morning, evaluating the adverse political opinion to Mr. Fernandes' return to the Defence Ministry and the nature of damage that the convener of the National Democratic Alliance can cause to the Government.

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