Hitting the speed breaker

Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport & Highways T R Baalu miraculously steered clear of all controversy when the Sethusamudram project came under fire, with Culture Minister Ambika Soni in the dock. The table now seems to have turned. The PMO is said to be miffed with Baalu of late. The bad publicity owing to the messy Delhi-Gurgaon expressway, say sources, has also done him in. What has got the alarm bells ringing for the minister though is the buzz that DMK leader M Karunanidhi is also not very happy with Baalu’s performance in keeping the balance with the Congress. “If the ministry can take three NHAI chairmen and two secretaries being shifted in a year in its stride, it can manage with another minister as well,” joked a senior official.