Vajpayee inducts 3 ministers
Jaswant gets External Affairs, Mahajan I&B

Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Dec 5 — The Prime Minister’s trusted lieutenants, Mr Jaswant Singh and Mr Pramod Mahajan, along with bureaucrat-turned-Parliamentarian Mr Jagmohan, were today inducted in the Union Cabinet, raising the strength of Union Council of Ministers to 42.

Mr Jaswant Singh will be the new Minister for External Affair, Mr Mahajan for Information and Broadcasting while Mr Jagmohan will be the Communications Minister. All three are from the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The three Ministers were sworn in at a brief ceremony, lasting about seven minutes at Asoka Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan this evening. The President, Mr K.R.Narayanan, administered the oath of office and secrecy. While Mr Jaswant Singh and Mr Jagmohan took the oath in English, Mr Mahajan took it in Hindi.

Speaking to newspersons after the swearing-in ceremony, the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, said the induction of the three Ministers should not be seen as an expansion of the Cabinet as he had only filled the portfolios which were lying vacant. "This exercise should not be seen as an expansion or a reshuffle" he said.

He said all three portfolios were resting on him and he wanted to do justice to these Ministries.

When pointed out that he had departed from tradition in expanding the Cabinet when the Parliament session was on, Mr Vajpayee said the induction had become necessary.

Mr Vajpayee said the Cabinet would be expanded in consultation with all the allies of the Bharatiya Janata Party after the present session of Parliament and before the Budget session. He said there were several portfolios which were still vested with the Prime Minister and they would be filled with new Ministers.

The Prime Minister said he had spoken to the Union Food Minister, Mr S.S. Barnala (Shiromani Akali Dal), Ms Jayalalitha of the AIADMK and other leaders regarding the induction of the three Ministers.

Mr Vajpayee clarified that the induction of the Ministers had nothing to do with the recent assembly elections.

On the future role of former Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj, who resigned from the Delhi Assembly a few hours before the Cabinet expansion was to take place, Mr Vajpayee said, "She will play an important role". On the fate of the former Delhi Chief Minister, Mr Sahib Singh Varma, who has been aspiring for a Cabinet post, Mr Vajpayee quipped, "He will continue to serve Delhi".

On the introduction of the Insurance Regulatory Authority Bill in Parliament, Mr Vajpayee said when it comes to Parliament everyone’s views would be ascertained before passing the legislation.

It may be recalled that both Mr Jaswant Singh and Mr Mahajan were expected to join the Vajpayee Cabinet when he took over as the Prime Minister in March this year. However, opposition from the RSS to their induction on the grounds that both were vanquished in the general election resulted in their exclusion then.

Mr Jaswant Singh, who is the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, has been the country’s key negotiator with the UAS in the post-Pokhran era and enjoys the trust of the Prime Minister while Mr Mahajan served the Prime Minister as his Political Secretary for a brief period.

The post of Information and Broadcasting Minister had been lying vacant after Mrs Sushma Swaraj tendered her resignation from the Union Cabinet on being shifted as Delhi Chief Minister in October this year. Mrs Swaraj also held additional charge of the Communications portfolio since Mr Buta Singh was shown the door after being chargesheeted by the CBI in the JMM MPs’ bribery case.

The Congress leaders, barring the Delhi Chief Minister, Mrs Shieila Dikshit, were conspicuous by their absence.

Sushma may get berth in Jan
From Shubhabrata Bhattacharya
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Dec 5 — Unfazed by the reverses suffered in the November 25 poll, the BJP today inducted three experienced hands into the Atal Behari Vajpayee team. All three are senior leaders of the party and the three enjoy a personal rapport with the Prime Minister.

According to sources in the ruling coalition another round of expansion is due, may be in January, when, among others, Mrs Sushma Swaraj may be sworn in. Allies will be placated with a few more berths. Attempts will be made to induct ministers from parties not represented in the government so far.

Today’s inductions shows the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, has decided to spurn criticism from within his party and opposition from the party’s so-called "moral police", the Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh (RSS). The induction of Mr Jaswant Singh and Mr Pramod Mahajan gives this signal.

Stormy days are ahead for the government in the winter session, as indicated during the first week, which concluded yesterday. The Congress is not in a mood to pull down the government but at the same time is waiting for it to collapse under the weight of its own contradictions. By inducting Mr Mahajan, Mr Jaswant Singh and Mr Jagmohan, the Prime Minister has attempted to provide more sinews to those behind the party’s floor management in the Lok Sabha.

Mr Jagmohan’s appointment will also give additional representation to Delhi. Similarly, Rajasthan and Maharashtra state units stand to gain politically with the induction of Mr Jaswant Singh and Mr Mahajan.

Another signal which has gone out today is that despite the humiliation meted out to Delhi strongman Madan Lal Khurana in the pre-assembly election scenario, his usefulness as a troubleshooter is not in doubt. That is the reason why neither his bete noire, Mr Sahib Singh Verma (who had been offered a Cabinet berth by Mr Vajpayee in October but had said he would prefer to "wait") nor Mrs Sushma Swaraj have found a place in today’s exercise.

Significantly, today Mrs Sushma Swaraj, who represents South Delhi in the Lok Sabha, resigned the Hauz Khas Vidhan Sabha seat won by her on November 25, thus indicating that she would prefer central politics. She could have been inducted today. Perhaps by not inducting her, Mr Vajpayee wanted to signal that in this round only those in whom he had implicit trust were to be rewarded. Mrs Swaraj is perceived to be closer to the camp led by Home Minister, L.K. Advani in BJP’s internal politics.

Battlelines are being drawn within the BJP Party president, Mr Kushabhau Thakre, is slowly but surely asserting his position, thereby distancing himself from the shadow of Mr Advani. Had the BJP’s national executive meeting not been put off from December to January, the contradictions within the ruling party would have been visible to all.

Had the meeting been held on schedule Mr Vajpayee would have faced a move to see his outer charging him with "non governance". Mr Vajpayee has been wise to pro-empt the move. With today’s exercise, he has indicated that he remains in control.

BJP's allies feel ignored
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Dec 5 - Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee's decision to go in for a limited expansion of the Union Cabinet has shocked the alliance partners of the ruling coalition Government with the allies leaders openly complaining for not being taken into confidence over the move.

The Akali Dal leader and the Union Chemical and Fertilisers Minister Mr S.S. Barnala, said that though he was in a meeting with the Prime Minister but he was not informed about the Cabinet expansion. "It would have been better if allies were taken into confidence and some of their members based on their respective parliamentary strength were inducted into the council of ministers", Mr Barnala said.

The Samata Party spokesman and Lok Sabha MP from Bihar, Mr Digvijay Singh, also stressed the same point and said that the party was not taken into confidence. Mr Singh said that though the Cabinet expansion was the sole prerogative of the Prime Minister but it would have been better if the allies were consulted before the decision was announced. The Lok Shakti, another ally of of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition, also said that it would have been better for the BJP to take its allies into confidence on Cabinet expansion rather than going in for this evening's limited induction.

Stressing that the Cabinet expansion was the " prerogative" of the Prime Minister, the Lok Shakti spokesman, Mr M. Raghupathy, said it would have been better if the expansion was undertaken after the Parliament session and after taking all allies into confidence.

The Trinamool Congress has declined to make an issue of the Cabinet expansion as its leader, Ms Mamata Banerjee, has yet not decided to join the Government. The Biju Janata Dal, faced with a split in its ranks, is preoccupied with internal wranglings and is not in a position to take a stand on the issue.

The AIADMK, which is keeping its finger crossed awaiting a concrete response from the Congress, is waiting for an opportunity to strike at the Vajpayee Government, sources said.

Meanwhile, the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, told reporters during a flight to Aurangabad today that another Cabinet expansion would take place after the winter session of the Parliament.

Even Mr Vajpayee's emissaries have told some of the leaders of the allies that after the winter session of Parliament their nominees would be inducted into the Cabinet.

The Prime Minister has gone in for a limited expansion as he wanted to send a firm message to his critics that he was firmly in grip of the situation, sources said.

Mr Jaswant Singh, Mr Pramod Mahajan and Mr Jagmohan have been inducted has been done with the view that they have wide experience of administration and knowledge of the working of Parliament.

The Prime Minister did not want to bring in new faces as it would have been difficult for them to face Parliament which is in session.