Pm Puts Off Cabinet Expansion

Prime Minister A B Vajpayee has put off indefinitely the plan to expand the Union council of ministers.

In the process, Union finance minister Yashwant Sinha has got a reprieve from a possible transfer to some other ministry. There were talks of Sinha losing his job to Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat who is under pressure from the state BJP unit. Sinha's plea to change finance secretary Montek Singh Ahluwalia and revenue secretary N K Singh was turned down by Vajpayee recently.

Vajpayee wanted to give the portfolio to Jaswant Singh but the party did not want the people defeated in Lok Sabha elections to become ministers.

A shift to the Centre would not only help Shekhawat escape the growing opposition from within the Rajasthan BJP, it would also strengthen the hands of the Prime Minister. Shekhawat's ability to manage adverse political situations is well known.

A delay in cabinet expansion also means that Jaswant Singh would not get a chance to become a minister in the near future. Sources close to Vajpayee, however, rule out Singh ever becoming the foreign minister as long as Brajesh Mishra, the principal secretary to the Prime Minister, calls the shots in foreign affairs.

The fate of Pramod Mahajan, who recently resigned as the political advisor to the Prime Minister to become a Rajya Sabha member from Maharashtra, also hangs in the balance. "The two of them come as a package", a BJP insider yesterday said.

AIADMK leader Jayalalitha has also demanded two more ministers for her party. Her argument is that two of her ministers, surface transport minister R Muthaiah and minister of state for finance R K Kumar have quit and therefore the vacancies must be filled.

Samata Party which has two Cabinet ministers _ George Fernandes and Nitish Kumar, is facing a tough time controlling a revolt in the party. Former Chief Minister of Bihar Abdul Ghafoor has threatened to quit the party if not inducted into the cabinet.

According to sources, Vajpayee was in favour of inducting Ghafoor as there were very few Muslims leaders in BJP. However, given the strength of the Samata Party, he could not adjust more than two Cabinet minister.

If Samata is given more than two berths in the Cabinet, other allies are also bound to demand more berths.

A senior party leader linked the postponement of cabinet expansion to BJP's inability to get its own nominee as the deputy speaker of the Lok Sabha. "A victory in deputy speaker's election would have given the confidence to the Prime Minister to go in for a Cabinet expansion", he said.