The Hindu : Coal for Uma Bharti in reshuffle

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 27, 2002

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Coal for Uma Bharti in reshuffle

By Our Special Correspondent

The President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, and the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, with the new Ministers, (from left to right) Anandrao Vithoba Adsul, Vikram Verma and Anant G. Geete, at the swearing-in ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Monday. — Photo: S. Arneja

NEW DELHI AUG. 26. Undertaking a limited Cabinet reshuffle today, the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, in a surprise move inducted a senior BJP leader from Madhya Pradesh, Vikram Verma, into the Union Council of Ministers, along with the Shiv Sena's Anant Geete and Anandrao Adsul.

The President, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new Ministers at a brief ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The Vice President, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Mr. Vajpayee, the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, and several members of the Union Council of Ministers were present. Suresh Prabhu of the Shiv Sena, whose resignation as the Power Minister prompted the current exercise, also attended the function.

For what was initially termed a Sena-centric reshuffle, Mr. Vajpayee brought in Mr. Verma, Rajya Sabha MP and chief of the BJP Madhya Pradesh unit. Mr. Verma's induction comes several months after the former Chief Minister , Sunderlal Patwa, had resigned on health grounds.

With Mr. Verma's entry the representation for Madhya Pradesh in the Union Cabinet has risen to three -- Satyanarayan Jatiya and Uma Bharti being the other two. This has also resulted in a minor reshuffle of portfolios. Mr. Verma would be the Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports in the place of Uma Bharti, who has been given charge of the Ministry of Coal and Mines which was held by Mr. Advani.

After the exit of the Lok Janshakti Party chief, Ram Vilas Paswan, the Coal Ministry was earmarked for the Trinamool Congress chief, Mamata Banerjee, but her party's decision to keep a distance from the NDA Government till the issue of Eastern Railway bifurcation is sorted out, may have settled the matter for now.

Mr. Geete, who was the Minister of State for Finance, has been elevated to Cabinet rank. He replaces Mr. Prabhu. Anandrao Vithoba Adsul, a dalit leader from Buldhana, fills in the Sena share in the NDA Government. He is the new Minister of State for Finance.

It is understood that the Pattali Makkal Katchi leader, S. Ramadoss, who is here now, was pressing for a change in the portfolio of the party nominee, N.T. Shanmugham, from Food Processing to Coal, a portfolio he held earlier.

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