Sunday,
May 5, 2002, Chandigarh, India
|
 |
| M A I
N N E W S |
Vajpayee to reshuffle Cabinet
Satish Misra
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, May 4
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is seriously contemplating to reshuffle his Council of Ministers towards the end of this month, dropping some of his Cabinet colleagues and roping in MPs from allies like the Trinamool Congress and the PMK. Before the current Budget session of Parliament comes to an end, Mr Vajpayee will accommodate one of his ministerial colleagues as the Lok Sabha Speaker and then prepare a list for the
Cabinet reshuffle during his week-long summer sojourn in Manali, sources said, adding that former Gujarat Chief Minister Keshubhi Patel was sure to make it to the Union Cabinet along with Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee.While Petroleum Minister Ram Naik and Food and Civil Supplies Minister Shanta Kumar are in Mr Vajpayee’s list as favourites for the Lok Sabha Speaker’s post, a lobby is working hard to make Culture Minister Jagmohan as the next Speaker so that BJP Parliamentary Party spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra can be accommodated in the Cabinet. After former Union Coal Minister Ram Vilas Pawan’s resignation from the Cabinet this week, the Prime Minister is keen to please his other NDA allies. Mr Vajpayee is under pressure from Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah to accept his son Omar Abdullah’s resignation as Minister of State for External Affairs. The Prime Minister has reportedly decided to accede to Dr Abdulah’s request and has made up his mind to replace Mr Omar Abdullah with Minister of State for Coal Ravi Shankar Prasad. But the Prime Minister’s move to make Mr Prasad as Minister of State for External Affairs is causing heartburn to Minister of State for Railways Digvijay Singh who is said to be keen on the post. Former Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma is not very pleased with his bete noire Madan Lal Khurana being made in charge of Delhi and Prof Malhotra being promoted as a Union Cabinet Minister.
|
