Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to go in for a reshuffle of his council of ministers in July. While the government is under considerable pressure to drop communications minister A. Raja of the DMK following the 2G spectrum controversy, his party leader, Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi, is strongly resisting such a move.
The DMK supremo, who is thinking of advancing Assembly polls in the state to the end of this year, has indicated that any move to drop Mr Raja, who is a dalit, would send the “wrong” signals. In addition, all eyes are also on railway minister Mamata Banerjee, who had recently indicated she might quit the government to concentrate completely on leading the Trinamul Congress campaign for next year’s West Bengal Assembly elections.
Speculation is rife that senior Congress leader Mohsina Kidwai, a Rajya Sabha member, could be inducted as minority affairs minister. At present, corporate affairs minister Salman Khurshid looks after that portfolio as an additional charge. It also appears extremely unlikely that the Prime Minister would drop any of his Cabinet colleagues.
With elections due in Uttar Pradesh in 2012, an exercise is on within the Congress for an amiable and widely respected minority figure. “The party’s experiment with Salman Khurshid to woo the minorities in Uttar Pradesh did not take off,” a Congress leader claimed. He recalled how some UP minority leaders had reacted when Mr Khurshid was made the state in-charge: “Manga tha musalman, de diya Salman (We asked for Musalman, Congress gave us Salman).”
While Ms Kidwai has never projected herself as a minority leader, an important section of the party is of the view that she is “amiable, accessible and commands a lot of respect”. For them, she could be the ideal candidate to head the minority affairs ministry.
Sources said the government, being hit with one controversy after another, might ignore criteria like merit or performance while reconstituting the ministry. Despite “poor performance” by incumbents in some key departments, no one is expected to be replaced.
It is further learnt that the government is not inclined to shift minister of state for civil aviation Praful Patel. There were whispers earlier that he might be shifted to another high-profile portfolio.
The reshuffle could see inductions in three ministries, including minority affairs, statistics and programme implementation and panchayati raj. The government is also looking for candidates for induction as minister of state for external affairs — a slot lying vacant since Mr Shashi Tharoor’s departure. Statistics and programme implementation and panchayati raj are being looked after as additional charges by Mr Sriprakash Jaiswal and Mr C.P. Joshi respectively.