Delayed distribution of portfolios creates animosity in Congress

Resentment is brewing in the ruling Congress in Uttarakhand with a section of Chief Minister Harish Rawat's Cabinet colleagues miffed over the delay in distribution of portfolios.

Cabinet minister Harak Singh Rawat has even registered his protest with the Chief Minister over the issue a couple of days back, saying he feels jobless with no portfolio being assigned to him, party sources requesting anonymity said.

He is sulking both over the delay in distribution of portfolios and someone else being appointed without his consent as the chairman of the Seed Certification Agency, a post he held as the Agriculture Minister during Vijay Bahuguna's tenure, they said.

Tilak Raj Behad was on Saturday appointed chairman of the Seed Certification Agency allegedly without Harak Singh Rawat being taken into confidence, and has not gone down well with the Minister.

He is also quite upset over the delay in distribution of portfolios to ministers even over a fortnight after being sworn in, the sources said, adding that in the absence of a portfolio, several ministers feel they are without work.

Though the reason being officially given for the delay in distribution of portfolios is the ongoing budget session of Uttarakhand Assembly, the Chief Minister is said to be indecisive about who should be given which portfolio.

He is secretly mulling a please-all formula before taking a final call on it, sources close to him said. His dilemma seems to have been caused by a mad scramble going on between his cabinet colleagues for the plum posts.