Congress drubs PM's stand on future reshuffles

Says govt and sulking ministers have to work out the issues

sweta-ranjan

Sweta Ranjan | July 13, 2011




Warning: Duplicate entry 'variables' for key 1 query: INSERT INTO cache (cid, data, expire, created, headers, serialized) VALUES ('variables', 'a:2648:{s:13:"theme_default";s:13:"governancenow";s:13:"filter_html_1";i:1;s:18:"node_options_forum";a:1:{i:0;s:6:"status";}s:18:"drupal_private_key";s:64:"e6e80546cb3aadb3bdb0e09423bb85482fb02aea301775e5a29be051c9827ed4";s:10:"menu_masks";a:38:{i:0;i:127;i:1;i:126;i:2;i:125;i:3;i:124;i:4;i:122;i:5;i:118;i:6;i:117;i:7;i:92;i:8;i:63;i:9;i:62;i:10;i:61;i:11;i:60;i:12;i:59;i:13;i:58;i:14;i:57;i:15;i:56;i:16;i:46;i:17;i:45;i:18;i:31;i:19;i:30;i:20;i:29;i:21;i:28;i:22;i:24;i:23;i:23;i:24;i:22;i:25;i:21;i:26;i:15;i:27;i:14;i:28;i:13;i:29;i:11;i:30;i:10;i:31;i:7;i:32;i:6;i:33;i:5;i:34;i:4;i:35;i:3;i:36;i:2;i:37;i:1;}s:12:"install_task";s:4:"done";s:13:"menu_expanded";a:1:{i:0;s:24:"menu-create-content-menu";}s:9:&quo in /home/govern/domains/governancenow.com/public_html/includes/database.mysql.inc on line 128

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/govern/domains/governancenow.com/public_html/includes/database.mysql.inc:128) in /home/govern/domains/governancenow.com/public_html/includes/bootstrap.inc on line 636

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/govern/domains/governancenow.com/public_html/includes/database.mysql.inc:128) in /home/govern/domains/governancenow.com/public_html/includes/bootstrap.inc on line 637

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/govern/domains/governancenow.com/public_html/includes/database.mysql.inc:128) in /home/govern/domains/governancenow.com/public_html/includes/bootstrap.inc on line 638

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/govern/domains/governancenow.com/public_html/includes/database.mysql.inc:128) in /home/govern/domains/governancenow.com/public_html/includes/bootstrap.inc on line 639

Congress on Wednesday brushed aside prime minister Manmohan Singh's cotention that there will be no further cabinet reshuffles from now to the general elections in 2014.

Party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the prime minister actually meant that there would be "hopefully" be no "major reshuffle" exercises before the polls. With UPA partner DMK not accorded any berth in Tuesday's rejig, the prime minister had said that two berths had been kept vacant for filling up in the near future. But he had stated that there would be no further expanisons or reshuffle.

On the issue of the sulking ministers Srikant Jena, veerappa Moily and Gurudas Kamat (who resigned from his ministerial posts soon after the rejig was announced), Singhvi said that the portfolio distribution was the prime minister's prerogative and that it was upto the disgruntled individuals to sort their issues with the government.

He noted that various factors were considered before allocating ministries and not all of them were measurable or quantifiable.

Kamat, who was made the minister of state (independent charge) for drinking water and sanitation, quit yesterday, reportedly miffed at being passed over for cabinet appointment. Jena, who was a union cabinet minister in the United Front governments of 1996, was also unhappy with being kept a minister of state since 2009.

Moily, shifted from the law ministry to corporate affairs, saw himself more as a scapegoat for the "administrative ministries" and said as much.

Both Jena and he, however, attended the swearing-in ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday and said that they would discharge their duty in the best possible manner, reposing faith in the prime minister and Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Asked to comment on the criticism from various quarters on the rejig being a damp squib, the Congress spokesperson said that it was not correct to deem a change in the weightier ministries, viz. finance, external affairs, home and defence alone as a "major exercise".
 

Comments

 

Other News

Consumer Justice at a Crossroads

Over the past four decades, India`s consumer protection landscape has undergone a remarkable transformation. What began with the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 as a simple mechanism to empower ordinary citizens has evolved into a comprehensive framework capable of addressing challenges ranging from mislea

Doctors, experts call for ban on junk food ads, mandate warning labels

More than 30 doctors, medical scientists and public health professionals have urged the government to take decisive action against the aggressive advertising and marketing of junk food, calling for a watershed ban on advertisements for foods high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) and ultra-processed foods (UPF

Asiatic Lion population rises from 523 in 2015 to 891 in 2025

On World Lion Day 2026, environment, forest and climate change Minister  Bhupender Yadav celebrated India’s remarkable journey in lion conservation and reaffirmed the country’s unwavering commitment to protecting wildlife and biodiversity.   In a post on soc

Railways imposed ₹5.13 crore fine for food quality and hygiene violations

Indian Railways serve about 58 crore meals every year on an average. About only 0.0008% food quality related complaints are received on average. Based on complaints during the last three years, appropriate penal actions have been taken by IRCTC. Such actions include imposition of fines amounting to ₹5.13

STHAVAR: Why every Indian built asset needs a permanent digital identity

India has built digital systems for identity, payments, taxation, documents, logistics and public services. State governments, ministries, infrastructure agencies and urban local bodies have also created portals for land records, building permissions, project monitoring, property taxation and municipal s

Saksham Skill census identifies 22,000 job-ready candidates in one Mumbai ward

A first-of-its-kind AI-enabled skill census conducted in Mumbai`s H-West Ward has identified a potential livelihood pipeline of nearly 22,000 candidates, generated over 32,000 provisional job matches while revealing that 71.2 per cent of surveyed homemakers are willing to join the workforce, according to

Upcoming Conferences



-->

Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter