UPA reallocates portfolios for now, Cabinet reshuffle may be in offing

A day after the resignation of two Cabinet ministers - Law Minister Ashwani Kumar and Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal - the government carried on reallocation of portfolios for the time being, projecting it was business as usual.

But Bharatiya Janata Party President Rajnath Singh said more heads needed to roll, beginning with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "There is no alternative other than a new government," he said, adding if the prime minister introspected, he would have no option but to resign.

The government, however, got on with it. Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal was on Saturday given additional charge of the law ministry and Road Transport & Highways Minister C P Joshi the additional charge of railways.

Joshi had held the railway portfolio briefly after Mukul Roy had resigned following his party Trinamool Congress' withdrawal of support to the United Progressive Alliance government.

These portfolios would be reallocated when the Cabinet reshuffle, likely before 24 May, took place, government sources said.

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

Just before the meeting, Ashwani Kumar called a press conference, where he reiterated the Supreme Court had passed no strictures against him and he had been hounded out due to media pressure. "All sections of political opinion - the party and the government - are with me," he said.

Railway and law are not the only ministries vacant. Five ministers of the Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam (DMK) pulled out and resigned from the government in March this year. Those portfolios have yet to be filled. M K Azhagiri (cabinet minister for chemicals & fertilisers); S S Palanimanickam (minister of state for Finance), D Napoleon (minister of state for social justice), S Jagatharakshakan (minister of state for commerce & 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 the Cabinet minister for parliamentary affairs, as well as urban development; Panabaka Laxmi is minister of state for petroleum & natural gas and textiles; Jitendra Singh holds independent charge of youth affairs & sports and is minister of state for defence, too; Milind Deora holds charge of both communications and shipping as junior minister; and Rajiv Shukla is minister of state for parliamentary affairs and planning.

Besides, Srikant Jena is minister of state (independent charge) for programme implementation, as well as chemicals & fertilisers. He has been seeking an upgrade to the Cabinet rank for some time now.