Post-Pawar request,Cabinet rejig on cards

Without seeking to undermine Pawar’s unusual action of propping his request in public on Monday,the sources said the party leadership was still to be apprised of what exactly transpired between the Prime Minister and the NCP chief in their meeting apart from the latter’s comments to the media. “The Prime Minister will naturally discuss with Congress president the proposal that Mr Pawar has in mind,” a senior functionary said. Pawar did not divulge his proposal,but it is being speculated that he may have sought a Cabinet berth in the rank of a minister of state for his daughter Supriya Sule or an elevation for his close aide Praful Patel as Cabinet minister. Patel currently is a minister of state with independent charge of civil aviation.

Speculation about Sule came after NCP general secretary D P Tripathi,hinted on Tuesday that responsibilities given up by Pawar should remain within the NCP kitty. “Shares of any alliance partner are never taken away in a coalition government. This has been the convention and general principle of a coalition,” he told The Indian Express. At the same time,Tripathi added that it was the Prime Minister’s prerogative to decide allocation of work in the Cabinet.

A Cabinet reshuffle has been on the cards since the time Shashi Tharoor had to step down as minister of state of external affairs in the wake of IPLgate as well as controversy over telecom minister A Raja and the alleged underpricing of 2G Spectrum. Although Tharoor’s was not a Cabinet post,his resignation gave rise to the surmise that the Prime Minister could use the opportunity to go for a rejig of his Cabinet so that he could make better use of efficient ministers.

Sources hinted that the Prime Minister had also been pressed by railway minister Mamata Banerjee to allocate adequate work to ministers of state (MoSs) belonging to her party,possibly even an upgradation with independent charge to at least two of them. One Trinamool minister on Tuesday asserted that they had complained to her more than once about having little to do on their hands as junior ministers,following which she had promised to take up the matter with the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister may also have to find space for RLD chief Ajit Singh in the Union Cabinet,should he decide to co-opt his party with the Congress. There have been a few rounds of talks between Congress leaders and Ajit Singh but they are yet to reach a settlement on the merger. The Congress has been keen to bring Ajit Singh into its fold,hoping that the move will help it in western UP.