Shinde settled, Cabinet restless

As the Democratic Front sovernment led by new Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde today passed the trust vote easily, Congress and NCP leaders...

As the Democratic Front sovernment led by new Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde today passed the trust vote easily, Congress and NCP leaders took up another important task 8212; forming the ministry.

Hectic lobbying began in the DF camp after the special session of the legislature ended at noon. Shinde has inducted 15 ministers from the NCP, Independents and small constituents, which means there is a vacancy of 35 to 40 ministerial berths 8212; reason enough to make the 130-plus MLAs in the DF camp sweat.

Party hunts for a job for Deshmukh
The Congress is working on various options for rehabilitating deposed Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, including making him a special invitee to the Congress Working Committee CWC. Sources say that in the prolonged discussions with local leaders in Maharashtra, it was felt that leaving Deshmukh in the state was not politically advisable, especially in view of the change of leadership.
8216;8216;Also the Congress president has always held that no leader should feel humiliated or left out in any way. Deskmukh is a senior leader of the party and his political experience is invaluable for the Congress,8217;8217; a senior leader said.
Sources also admit that Deshmukh may not be entirely satisfied with the option and may want to stay back in the state.
Among the other options available to him is that of the position of general secretary in the AICC. However, Deshmukh had himself expressed in Mumbai his desire to use the time he would now have to revive his interaction with the people of his constituency. Being a general secretary would not leave him much time for that. As a general reshuffle of the AICC organisation is due, any announcement on Deshmukh may come along with other structural changes. Kota Neelima

At last a dozen ministers in the previous cabinet are not sure about their future and others are leaving no stone unturned to get into the ministry.

As far as the Congress is concerned, the Cabinet expansion is a highly centralised exercise as Shinde left for New Delhi to finalise the list in consultation with the party top brass. Sharad Pawar was the nucleus of activities in the NCP camp.

Late in the evening, senior party leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal and spokesman Praful Patel, held a closed-door meeting with Pawar to give finishing touches to the NCP team in the ministry.

Shinde wants the new ministry to be little less crowded than the one his predecessor used to lead. The Deshmukh ministry had 58 members, including 24 Cabinet ministers. 8216;8216;There is a possibility of some reduction in the size of the ministry,8217;8217; Shinde told reporters after he won the trust vote.

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But then the Chief Minister knows the compulsions of running a coalition government. 8216;8216;In coalition government, you cannot decide the ideal size of the ministry,8217;8217; he hastened to add. The first expansion of the Shinde ministry will be conducted on January 24 or 25.

Earlier, the trust vote tabled by senior Congress member Rohidas Patil was passed unanimously by the Assembly. The Sena-BJP did not oppose the motion, with Narayan Rane and Gopinath Munde preferring not to speak either. 8216;8216;It was decided that only trust vote will be passed,8217;8217; said Rane. About Shinde, he said: 8216;8216;I see no difference between the first address of Shinde and his predecessor, Vilasrao Deshmukh.8221;