No space for Oscar

The exclusion of Oscar Fernandes,a Nehru-Gandhi family loyalist,from the Union Council of Ministers was a big surprise to many. After much deliberation,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi decided to drop the former Labour Minister as there were already too many ministers from Karnataka,where the Congress secured only six Lok Sabha seats. With Manmohan bringing in S M Krishna and Veerappa Moily and Sonia ensuring the induction of Mallikarjun Kharge (K H Muniyappa could not be dropped after his sixth straight win from Kolar) there was little room left for another minister from Karnataka. Oscar’s controversial remarks on the killing of a CEO of an Italian MNC in Greater Noida by dismissed employees last September,when he termed it as a “warning” to the management,did not help his cause either. Oscar is now set to be rehabilitated in the party organisation as a general secretary.