Monday, May 19, 2003
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He also said the extra burden on some of the Ministers would be lightened. ``Soon, there will be changes in the Council of Ministers. Some new Ministers will be added. Some of the Ministers are overburdened. Their burden will be lightened,'' he told reporters at the end of his six-day sojourn here. Asked whether Ms. Banerjee will be re-inducted, he said: ``The possibility is there.'' On when the exercise would be carried out, the Prime Minister said: ``It will be at an auspicious moment''. Asked whether anyone from Himachal Pradesh will be taken into the Government, Mr. Vajpayee said he could not reveal everything ``right now''. There has been media speculation that the former Union Minister Shanta Kumar, who hails from Himachal Pradesh, could get back into the Government. Mr. Vajpayee said the change of guard in Himachal Pradesh after the recent Assembly elections, which saw the BJP's ouster by the Congress, would not affect the Centre's relations with the State.
`Pak. must take more steps'
On India-Pakistan relations, Mr. Vajpayee asserted that cross-border terrorism must end to create an ``appropriate atmosphere'' for talks. He said Pakistan must take ``more steps'' to stop it. ``Our position is this and we stick to it.'' ``There is no compulsion to talk,'' he said when asked why India was taking peace initiatives when cross-border terrorism continued. ``We are making efforts to see an end to cross-border terrorism so that an appropriate atmosphere is created for talks,'' he said and insisted there was no change in New Delhi's position on this. When recent steps taken by Pakistan, including the release of 17 Indian prisoners, were cited, the Prime Minister said ``several steps have been taken and more must be taken.'' ``A process has begun. Let us see how these steps are linked with ending cross-border terrorism,'' he said. Asked whether he would be travelling to Pakistan for the SAARC meeting, Mr. Vajpayee said he had not received any invitation. To a question whether he would be meeting the Pakistani President, Pervez Musharraf, in St. Petersburg during his upcoming visit to Russia, he said the Pakistani leader was not going there. ``Shall we arrange for his visit too?'' he quipped in a lighter vein.
Trinamool happy
A report from Kolkata said the Trinamool Congress today expressed happiness at Mr. Vajpayee's remarks that Ms. Banerjee may return to the Union Cabinet. ``We are happy at the prospect of Mamata rejoining the Cabinet'', the senior TC leader and party legislator, Saugata Roy, told PTI here. Mr. Roy, a former Union Minister, said: ``Mamata's joining the Union Cabinet will strengthen our hands in fighting the CPI(M)'s terror because nobody can fight them in West Bengal without the backing of the Central Government''. The State BJP also welcomed the Prime Minister's move to take Ms. Banerjee back into the Union Cabinet. PTI
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