CHANDIGARH, MARCH 13: Haryana Chief Minister Bansi Lal's sudden Cabinet expansion is yet another pointer to the discontent within the Haryana Vikas Party (HVP). He has not only tried to buy peace with dissidents by giving them more influential portfolios to ensure the survival of his Government, but has also come down heavily on them by dropping two lightweight ministers - Krishna Gahlawat and Jaswant Singh Bawal.The two ministers were among the dissident leaders who nearly pulled down the HVP-BJP Government in cahoots with the Opposition earlier this year.Initially, the Government denied the coup attempt, but the reshuffle and pacific efforts made by the Chief Minister to placate dissident leaders, is nothing short of an admission. Bansi Lal even conceded on Wednesday that the two ministers were removed for political reasons. However, he refused to elaborate.While his supporters are interpreting the sacking as a ``move to discipline the party'', Bansi Lal's decision to reward Jagannath, Brij MohanSingla, Raj Kumar and other dissidents, indicates that he is in no mood to confront them right now. The induction of new ministers - Azad Mohammad, Jagdish Nayar, and Vijendar Singh Kadian from the HVP - only buttresses this view.``In a nutshell, the Chief Minister is trying to buy disgruntled members by giving sops to them to remain in power,'' said Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) president Om Parkash Chautala.The expansion has raised the strength of the HVP-BJP Cabinet to 35, making a mockery of Bansi Lal's promise to run the State administration with a small team. Of these, 26 ministers belong to the HVP, which has 35 MLAs.The BJP, which has 11 members in the State Assembly, isn't any better off, with seven ministers. BJP MLA Fakir Chand Aggarwal is Deputy Speaker, Ramesh Kashyap, MLA from Gharaunda, is chairman of the Haryana School Education Board. Two members - Chander Bhatia and Anand Bhatia - are disgruntled. While two Independents - Om Parkash Mahajan (Hisar) and Bhimsen Mehta (Indri) -are ministers in the State Cabinet, three Independent MLAs are heading boards or corporations.Most of them were roped in by Bansi Lal in early 1997, when he had faced a similar situation. MLAs who were left without portfolios had raised murmurs of protest, forcing him to induct 17 of them into the Council of Ministers. Later, he inducted another eight.However, the expansion did not provide any respite as half a dozen disgruntled MLAs, including Public Works Department Minister Dharamvir Yadav, criticised the performance of the Government last year.While the Chief Minister has made another attempt to placate his MLAs, only the coming months will tell if the strategy works.
