Its business as usual for GoI

GoI rejigs portfolios but opposition is demanding for more

A day after the resignation of two cabinet ministers – Law Minister Ashwani Kumar and Railway Minister Pawan Bansal – the government carried on as if it was business as usual by reallocating portfolios for the time being.

But BJP President Rajnath Singh said more heads needed to roll: beginning with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "There is no alternative other that a new government," he said. He said if the Prime Minister introspects, he will have no option but to resign.

The government, however, got on with it. Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal was today given additional charge of the Law Minister and Roads and Highways Minister CP Joshi was given additional charge of Railways.

Joshi had held the railways portfolio briefly after Mukul Roy resigned from post when Trinamul Congress pulled out of the United Progressive Alliance.

These portfolios will be reallocated when the cabinet reshuffle, likely before 24 May will take place, government sources said.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi called a meeting of party leaders (which was significantly not attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh) to discuss options and names.

Just before the meeting, Ashwani kumar called a press conference, where he reiterated that the Supreme Cpourt had passed no strictures against him and he had been hounded out because of the pressure of the media. “All sections of political opinion – the party and the government – are with me” he said.

Railways and Law are not the only vacancies. Five ministers of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) pulled out and resigned from the government in March this year. Those portfolios still require to be filled. MK Azhagiri (cabinet minister for chemicals and fertilisers); SS Palanimanickam (Minister of state for Finance), D Napoleon (minister of State for Social Justice), S Jagatharakshakan (Minister of State for Commerce and Industry) and S Gandhiselvan (Minister of State for Health) had all resigned in March.

Earlier, in a reshuffle, several ministers were given dual charge of ministries. Kamal Nath is cabinet minister for Parliamentary Affairs as well as Urban Development; Panabaka Laxmi is minister of state for Petroleum and natural gas and textiles;Jitendra Singh holds independent charge of Youth Affairs and sports  and is Minister of state for defence as well; Milind Deora holds charge of both Communications and shipping as junior minister; and Rajiv Shukla is Minister of State for Parliamentary affairs and Planning.

Srikant Jena is Minister of state (independent charge) of programme implementation as well as chemicals and fertilisers. He has been seeking an upgrade to cabinet rank for some time now.