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

AI studies sun images to track bright solar regions

Artificial Intelligence has been used to trace the shift in magnetically active patches on the Sun from 1916 to 2007 by scanning 100 years of hand-drawn Sun records from the Kodaikanal Solar Observatory (KoSO). This could give a much longer view of how solar activity changes over time.  

General Dhiraj Seth takes over as Chief of Army Staff

General Dhiraj Seth, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, took over as the 31st Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) from General Upendra Dwivedi, PVSM, AVSM, who superannuated after more than four decades of distinguished service to the nation on Tuesday.   General Dhiraj Seth is an alumnus of the N

The women India doesn`t count enough

She runs a tailoring shop from a single room in her house. Every morning she stitches school uniforms, answers queries on WhatsApp, collects payments through UPI and orders fabric online. Officially, she still belongs to India`s informal economy. Yet her enterprise is no longer disconnected from the formal

“Cancer is just a mind game”

Dr. Ananda Shankar Jayant, a Padma Shri awardee, inspired audiences for decades through her mastery of Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. But it was her journey through cancer that taught some of life`s most powerful lessons in courage and resilience.

Why Swami Vivekananda is the pathfinder for our times

Swami Vivekananda for Our Times  Edited and compiled by Rajiv Sikri, with Introduction by S. Gurumurthy Rupa Publications, 552 pages, Rs 695  

Five ways to realise the potential of India’s handicraft and handloom sector

India`s economic ambitions are increasingly defined by the industries of the future. Semiconductors, electronics, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing dominate policy conversations. Yet one of India`s largest employment-intensive sectors continues to occupy a surprisingly marginal place in ec





Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter