New Delhi, December 19
Power Minister P.M. Sayeed’s untimely demise has lent further urgency to the need for a Cabinet expansion-cum-reshuffle as the Congress representation in the government has now been reduced by six.
Other vacancies arose following the death of Union minister Sunil Dutt (Sports and Youth Affairs), the resignations of Mr K.Natwar Singh (External Affairs) and Mr Jagdish Tytler (Overseas Indian Affairs) and after Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad (Urban Development) was shifted as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and Mr Rehman Khan (Chemicals and Fertilisers) was elected Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman.
In addition, JMM chief Shibu Soren had to step down as Steel and Mines Minister when he was appointed Jharkhand Chief Minister. Since his tenure proved to be short-lived, he has been waiting to reclaim his old portfolio but the much-awaited expansion-reshuffle has been delayed for one reason or the other.
Besides the obvious vacancies, a number of states like Kerala, Orissa, Himachal Pradesh and Assam have no representation in the Cabinet from the Congress ranks.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had recently stated that he would be going in for a Cabinet reshuffle after the ongoing Parliament session but before the AICC’s Hyderabad plenary session slated from January 21 to 23. UPA sources were mentioning early January as a distinct possibility. This reshufffle is tied to changes in the AICC organisation and the appointment of Governors.
Although Dr Singh did reallocate portfolios before the winter session of Parliament by filling up the Parliamentary Affairs and Urban Development Ministries, it will no longer be possible to put off a large-scale exercise as key ministries like Power and External Affairs are now without full-fledged ministers, UPA sources maintained.
It was stated that the Congress will be looking to replace Mr Sayeed with a Muslim and several names have already begun doing the rounds in this connection. Senior party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Mohsina Kidwai was being mentioned as a probable even earlier but her case has been further strengthened now. Other names being mentioned include Mr A.R.Antulay, Mr Jaffer Sharief, Mr Ghani Khan Chaudhary and Mr Salman Khursheed.
Since Mr Khursheed and Mr Sharief are not MPs, they would first have to be inducted into Parliament through the Rajya Sabha. In fact, Mr Sayeed’s Rajya Sabha term from Delhi was to end early next month along with that of Mr Janardan Dwivedi and Dr. Karan Singh. The latter two are expected to be renominated but Mr Sayeed’s vacancy will now lead to some hard lobbying among the Congress aspirants.
If the reshuffle does stretch to the “big five” ministries, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee could well move to the External Affairs Ministry, Home Minister Shivraj Patil to Defence and Finance Minister P. Chidamaram may be given the Home portfolio. Mr Rangarajan, presently chairing the PM’s Economic Advisory Council, is being tipped as the next Finance Minister as he is likely to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha.
Other names doing the rounds include Mrs Ambika Soni (Punjab), MrVyalyar Ravi (Kerala), Mr Anand Sharma (Himachal Pradesh) and Giridhar Gomang (Orissa).
