The Hindu : PM starts talks on reshuffle

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 21, 2003

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PM starts talks on reshuffle

By Harish Khare

New Delhi May 20. The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, today initiated the consultations on the proposed reshuffle of his Cabinet. He discussed the issue for over two hours with the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, the Union Finance Minister, Jaswant Singh, and the BJP president, Venkaiah Naidu.

As of now, the likely dates for the proposed reshuffle are May 23 or May 24. And consultations will continue till the last day.

Though the Prime Minister had ``announced'' last Sunday (in Himachal Pradesh) that he was thinking of a Cabinet expansion, he once again deemed it necessary to have formal consultations with senior Cabinet and party colleagues.

Today's consultations have consecrated a new format for the exercise of prime ministerial authority. The last expansion/reshuffle, in January last had also witnessed similar collective discussions.

Since the administrative rationale for yet another expansion/reshuffle is not clear, the proposed exercise appears to be being driven mostly by Mr. Naidu's political activism. Political considerations, rather than administrative competence, are likely to influence who stays in and who stays out and in what ministerial slot.

For now, only the return of Mamata Banerjee to the Cabinet is a certainty. The name of Farooq Abdullah of the National Conference is also being talked about as a possible entrant, though the former J&K Chief Minister's usefulness in the present political context is judged to be rather limited.

Finding ministerial portfolios to suit their political high profile may force a chain reaction.

Whereas the Prime Minister indicated (in Himachal Pradesh) that some of the Ministers were overburdened and that their workload would need to be lightened, Mr. Naidu has been hinting that the two Aruns — Arun Shourie and Arun Jaitely — would not be disturbed. Both have two portfolios each, and both have given an excellent account of themselves.

That leaves Ananth Kumar and Sushma Swaraj among the ``overburdened'' Ministers. Both are known to be Mr. Advani's proteges but, by her sheer stature and competence, Ms. Swaraj can hope to retain her current dual charge (of health and parliamentary affairs).

Ananth Kumar, in dual charge of urban development and rural development, may be asked to shed the rural development portfolio.

In that case, Mr. Naidu would want the portfolio to go to a BJP nominee, so that the BJP president can continue to monitor the progress of the schemes he began when he presided over that ministry. There seems to be a run on Syed Shahnawaz Hussain's portfolio of civil aviation. The Shipping Minister, Shatrugun Sinha, is reported to be making a bid on this rather glamorous portfolio. But the Syed, the only Muslim Minister in the Vajpayee Government, is known to be enjoying Mr. Advani's protection.

The BJP's collective preference appears to be for the ouster of Ajit Singh, the Agriculture Minister. Sources close to Mr. Naidu have been openly dropping hints that Mr. Singh has to go.

However, the Prime Minister has not yet bought the argument. A possible compromise being talked about is a change in Mr. Singh's portfolio. Mr. Singh is believed to have made it clear that if his portfolio is changed, he would prefer to resign.

Though Ajit Singh represents only one Lok Sabha seat, his departure is not without possible costs to the BJP. As a Jat leader who is not without some influence in pockets of Rajasthan, estrangement with him could cost the BJP a few crucial votes.

Similarly, he is not without his usefulness in Uttar Pradesh. Mr. Singh's party, Rashtriya Lok Dal, has 16 MLAs and it was Mr. Singh's letter of support for Ms. Mayawati that persuaded the U.P. governor to invite the BSP leader to form the Government.

Should the RLD be constrained to withdraw its support from the Mayawati Government, Uttar Pradesh could be in for a spell of uncertainty. On the other hand, the BJP managers appear confident of splitting Mr. Singh's legislative flock in Uttar Pradesh.

The Shiv Sena and the DMK too are making a case for a larger share in the ministerial berths.

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