The Hindu : Cabinet expansion on Monday

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 28, 2002

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Cabinet expansion on Monday

By Harish Khare

NEW DELHI 27. It is official, at last. The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, will expand and reshuffle his Council of Ministers on July 1. The date of the much-awaited and much-promised expansion was announced by the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Pramod Mahajan, after a meeting of senior Cabinet Ministers at the Prime Minister's residence.

Predictably Mr. Mahajan was not in a position to reveal the names of possible newcomers or probable candidates for the chopping block. "Who will be there and will not be there will be decided by the Prime Minister,'' he observed.

However, the centrepiece of the proposed reshuffle remains the perceived need to have a new Finance Minister in place of the incumbent, Yashwant Sinha. But Mr. Vajpayee and his senior colleagues have not yet zeroed in on a possible replacement. The initial thought of a swap between Yashwant Sinha and the External Affairs Minister, Jaswant Singh, has now been abandoned. Mr. Jaswant Singh stays where he is.

It is believed that the Human Resource Development Minister, Murli Manohar Joshi, is keen to steer the economy. But Dr. Joshi's possible move to North Block is being opposed by another North Block heavyweight, Lal Kishen Advani. The Prime Minister is reported to be inclined to bring in a professional economist (like the Andhra Pradesh Governor, C. Rangarajan), but it is conceded that a non-political Finance Minister would find it difficult to cope with populist colleagues and their populist demands.

Meanwhile, the stratagem of getting Mr. Advani designated as Deputy Prime Minister has died a premature death. It is realised that the proposed designation of Mr. Advani, who is already No. 2 in the Cabinet, can come about only at the expense of the Prime Minister's authority. And no Prime Minister — and certainly not Mr. Vajpayee — is going to allow such a perception to set in.

Nonetheless, it is almost certain that a number of non-performing ministers would be dropped. These include the Minister for Urban Affairs, Ananth Kumar, the Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, Satyanarayan Jatia, the Health Minister, C.P.Thakur, and the Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation, Maneka Gandhi.

It is also almost certain that there will be no elevation for the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Omar Abdullah. He had been publicly demanding that he deserved a full-fledged Cabinet post. When he and the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Farooq Abdullah, called on the Prime Minister three days ago (and just a day after spitting fire and brimstone in Srinagar against the Centre), it was made clear to them that there would be no promotion for the junior Abdullah.

The return of Mamata Banerjee is certain, though it is doubtful if her demand for Railways (from Nitish Kumar) would be conceded. The Trinamool Congress chief may still end up with a portfolio which she can use to impress the electorate back in West Bengal. In addition, the Prime Minister may be under pressure to accommodate new NDA allies.

Also, on the cards is the induction of the former Chief Minister of Gujarat, Keshubhai Patel. There is, however, the Gujarat angle to this. In case he does not get a Cabinet berth it would signal that sooner than later he would return to his old job in Gandhinagar. And, if he does come in, then the position of the fellow Gujarati, Kashiram Rana, the Minister for Textiles, would become untenable. Mr. Rana is counted among the non-performers.

Nonetheless, the final shape of the reshuffle would be predicated on the nature of overhauling in the BJP. If the president, Jana Krishnamurthy, is to make way for someone younger and "dynamic'' (an euphemism that covers ministers such as Sushma Swaraj, Pramod Mahajan, Venkaiah Naidu and Arun Jaitely), there will be a new situation. If any one of them allows himself to be persuaded to take up the job of party president, then there would be additional vacancies to be filled.

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