The oil firms’ disinvestment controversy was used not only by Defence Minister George Fernandes to flex his muscles, but also by HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi to regain lost political space.Their hardline positions bagged them seats at Saturday’s Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment meeting as special invitees. It’s unclear if this was a one-time decision, but NDA circles take it as a signal that both have re-established themselves as dominant voices within the Government.Like George, Joshi too has been feeling the pinch of Advani’s elevation to No. 2. Not long ago, he was considered one of the BJP’s three main pillars. Joshi recently hit out at Advani’s protege, Gujarat CM Narendra Modi, for his war of words with the CEC. He chose to do so at the RSS headquarters in Nagpur when chief K.S. Sudershan was there.BJP circles see the outburst as a bid to recapture political space with backing of part of the RSS. Both Sudershan and Joshi are in favour of Modi’s rival Haren Pandya.A day later, Vajpayee chided Modi in a press statement. In one stroke, Joshi aligned himself with Sudershan and the PM.Next, Joshi criticised the disinvestment policy, particularly in the oil sector. With Vajpayee asking Advani to hammer out a compromise on HPCL-BPCL privatisation, Joshi was expected to go in the other direction. He lost no time in making his views known to the PM. Vajpayee has put off the disinvestment by three months to let the passions die down. NDA circles, however, predict more trouble from George and Joshi.
