Eating into turfs

A Cold War appears to have broken out between Food Minister K V Thomas and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar. Tensions arose when Pawar publicly declared that the government had lifted the wheat export ban and Thomas insisted it was an “in-principle” decision with the details to be worked out by the commerce ministry. True, Pawar, a long-time votary for lifting the ban, is part of the empowered group of ministers on food that decided the issue. But the announcement marked an intrusion on Thomas’ turf. Days after that Thomas wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh suggesting the animal husbandry and poultry departments be delinked from agriculture because they haven’t been given due attention. Again, Thomas does not have any role in agriculture but saw it fit to intrude on Pawar’s territory. Outwardly, though, the two ministers are extremely cordial to each other.