NEW DELHI, DEC 4: With the Government under pressure to pull up its socks after the BJP's electoral rout, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has decided to go in for a limited Cabinet expansion tomorrow. He will induct Jaswant Singh, Pramod Mahajan and Jagmohan.The choice of individuals suggests an attempt by the Prime Minister to assert his authority at a time when he is facing flak from his party for non-performance. Singh and Pramod are known to be close to him while Jagmohan is a neutral person in a divided house.Singh's portfolio is obvious - external affairs. The portfolios of the other two are not known but PMO sources said the expansion would ``fill important vacancies'', the two most obvious ones being information and broadcasting and telecommunications.These ministries have been headless ever since the erstwhile minister, Sushma Swaraj, was shifted to Delhi as Chief Minister on the eve of elections. The induction of Jagmohan shuts the door to the Cabinet for Swaraj as like her, he too isa Delhi MP. Although Swaraj's supporters have been lobbying hard for her to get back her portfolios, the party obviously feels that it is more important to restore its lost credibility with Delhi voters.When Swaraj was shifted as Delhi's Chief Minister, she and the BJP repeatedly stressed that it was not an electoral gimmick. Letting her come back to Parliament instead of staying on leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly would send out signals of a party callous to a pre-election promise.Although it is unusual for a Prime Minister to effect a Cabinet expansion while Parliament is in session, PMO sources maintained that there are precedents. Vajpayee met President Narayanan this evening to get his go-ahead and the ceremony is scheduled for tomorrow evening.Vajpayee is also believed to have cleared his expansion plans with the allies, all of whom have been demanding more berths. Another round is likely soon after the winter session ends on December 23 in which the allies will be accommodated. Thiswill be a bigger expansion as it will have to include claimants from within the BJP as well and the Prime Minister may reshuffle portfolios following a mess-up on prices.The decision to take in new ministers in the middle of a Parliament session seems to have been prompted by three things. One, the Government is under pressure from the Opposition to reveal the progress of the Jaswant Singh-Strobe Talbott talks. Vajpayee will make a statement in both Houses early next week but after that, Parliament is slated to hold a full discussion on the subject.Naturally, Singh's participation is crucial but for that, he needs an official status which he will now get. Secondly, the Government seems to have finally woken up to the need for dextrous floor-management in these troubled times.The shock of the BJP's electoral defeat has made the party's own MPs as well as the MPs of allied parties restive. The recent faux pas on the insurance bill, which sent the Sensex crashing and created tremors at the WorldEconomic Forum, only underlines the need for a savvy Parliamentary Affairs Minister who is in tune with the Prime Minister's needs.Although a final decision on Mahajan's portfolio will be taken only tomorrow, the indications tonight were that he may be given additional charge of parliamentary affairs which is currently with Madanlal Khurana.Thirdly, Vajpayee appears to be wanting to send out signals, mostly to his own party, that he is very much in control and remains the final authority in the Government.The need for this assertion comes in the wake of vociferous criticism from the party on the Government's performance, or the lack of it. The insurance bill has became the symbol of the discord between the Government and the party. By inducting his own men into Government at this point, Vajpayee seems to be trying to remind the party that he is the boss.
