Sibal getting Telecom portfolio 'stop-gap' measure: DMK

DMK today said party chief M Karunanidhi has not yet decided on a successor to A Raja, who resigned as Telecom Minister, and suggested that HRD Minister Kapil Sibal getting the portfolio as additional charge was a "stop-gap arrangement".

Senior party leader and former Union Minister T R Baalu, who was reportedly in the race to fill the slot of Telecom Minister, said it is the "prerogative of the Prime Minister to allot a vacant portfolio" to any of his cabinet colleagues.

"No one has any say on the issue except the Prime Minister. As such, our leader (M Karunanidhi) has not given any name to succeed Raja to the Prime Minister," he said here.
    
"It is 100 per cent the prerogative of the Prime Minister to allot vacant portfolios. DMK has three cabinet slots in the UPA government and with the exit of Raja, one slot is vacant," he said.
    
The DMK leader suggested that Sibal getting the Telecom portfolio as additional charge was a "stop-gap arrangement".
    
"Our leader will take a decision on the successor after consultations with senior party leaders and then convey the name to the Prime Minister," he said.