Heavy industries minister may be out of Cabinet

Veteran parliamentarian and Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Balasaheb Vikhe Patil, seems to be hurtling towards ...

Veteran parliamentarian and Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Balasaheb Vikhe Patil, seems to be hurtling towards the chopping block and will be divested of his Cabinet rank on Saturday, in this Cabinet reshuffle.

The 70-year-old former Congressman and now Shiv Sena leader from Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, now knows the price of belonging to a party which is controlled by one strongman, Bal Thackeray and he is being ejected on the express wishes of his leader.

While it was well-known that the Sena was quite content with its sumptuous representation in the NDA Cabinet, with prized portfolios, with even the speakership of the Lok Sabha in its kitty, the sudden turn of events of Patil’s imminent exit from the Cabinet, has taken people by surprise.

In fact, until yesterday, there seemed to be no indication of any demands from Thackeray, the irrepressible leader of the Sena.

However, on the eve of the Cabinet reshuffle, Thackeray is still playing sly, the guessing game is still on— who will replace Patil?