HQ puts on united colours

BJP functionaries trying to come to terms with the cascading effect of last night’s Cabinet reshuffle today presented a facade of unity...

BJP functionaries trying to come to terms with the cascading effect of last night’s Cabinet reshuffle today presented a facade of unity at the party headquarters. Those refusing to take this at face value were told it was all done for the good of the party.

Party president M. Venkaiah Naidu tried to invest the transition with as much dignity as possible by personally heralding the arrival of former ministers Pramod Mahajan and Uma Bharti to the organisation at a crowded press conference. Mahajan was named general secretary and Bharti the chairperson of the Madhya Pradesh election campaign committee. Former minister V.P. Goel, not assigned any post yet, is tipped to look after the Overseas Friends of the BJP.

CBI to stay with PM

NEW DELHI: The CBI, which was earlier under the administrative control of the Department of Personnel, will now function under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Barring the CBI, the entire Personnel Ministry will report to Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani. An order to this effect is pending approval from the President. It is understood that the decision to take out the CBI from the purview of the Personnel Ministry was taken at the behest of Advani. It seems Advani told Vajpayee that as he is involved in the Babri Masjid case, which the CBI is handling, it would only be fair that the charge of the investigative agency was not given to him.

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According to the government spokesman today, the CBI will come under the ambit of the Cabinet Secretariat that functions under the PM. (ENS)

Naidu tried to reason out the reshuffle arguing that it was part of a larger mid-term appraisal. ‘‘It is part of a process initiated by Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee since the party’s national executive in Goa last year,’’ he said.

Terming the coming assembly elections in nine states this year a ‘‘semi-final’’, Naidu said he had ‘‘sought to impress upon Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani that they spare party people capable of achieving the goal. For this, we wanted a senior dynamic leader and the conclusion was that Pramodji had the experience and dynamism.’’

Mahajan tried to look unruffled by yesterday’s developments. He maintained that he did not feel ‘‘slighted’’ working under Naidu. Unlike the bureaucracy, he said, ‘‘there is nothing like senior or junior in politics’’. Having held posts higher than those held by many senior leaders in the party, there was no reason for him to think ‘‘whether Naidu is one batch senior or two batches junior to me’’. He went on to say that as long as he was in the government, he was reporting to Prime Minister and ‘‘I will be reporting to Naidu now’’.

Replying to a question, he said ‘‘I have no plans for the party’’ and added he would work according to party plans. ‘‘The president is president and a general secretary is general secretary. I understand this fully and it is the institution which matters.’’

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