The government is apparently concerned about the functioning of three key ministries — railways, communications and information technology and chemicals and fertilisers. While the railway minister is Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, the ministries of communications and information technology and chemicals and
fertilisers are headed by DMK men A. Raja and M.K. Alagiri respectively. Ms Banerjee, the government feels, is preoccupied with the forthcoming West Bengal Assembly polls and neglecting her ministry.
Sources disclosed that with Mr A. Raja in trouble, the DMK’s Dayanidhi Maran is trying to move into communications and IT and get Mr T.R. Baalu, the leader of the DMK in the Lok Sabha, to replace him as textiles minister.
Sources revealed that Mr Maran has been eyeing the communications ministry for some time. With Mr Raja embroiled in the spectrum controversy and pressure mounting on DMK chief M. Karunanidhi to remove him, Mr Maran has been lobbying hard for the post. If the DMK chief decides to withdraw Mr Raja, he is likely to bring in Mr Baalu, a trusted aide of the DMK family. Mr Maran feels that if he is shifted to communications, Mr Baalu can take over textiles.
The Maran coterie is now been trying to project Mr Maran’s “clean stint and utility to the DMK” as communications and IT minister during UPA-I. He also reportedly has “better relations” with the Prime Mini-ster, who is not “too pleas-ed with the spectrum controversy”.