New Delhi:
Confronted with a series of political crises, the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi have begun discussions on what's expected to be an exhaustive Cabinet reshuffle.
Sources confirm that the two leaders met on Sunday by themselves to begin the process of moving portfolios around - the idea is largely to remove ministers who have not performed. "A team member does not comment until the captain asks them to speak," said Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khursheed about the shape the reshuffle might take.
The Cabinet reshuffle, may then take place in two weeks from now, claim sources. The PM and Mrs Gandhi, who has recently returned after a foreign trip, are likely to hold a series of meetings on the issue in the next few days.
Sources say the PM hopes his reshuffle will provide a younger, cleaner image for his government at a time when the charge of "governance paralysis" has been leveled against him. Needs of different key allies of the UPA coalition also have to be tended to. For example, with Mamata Banerjee taking over as Chief Minister of West Bengal, a new Railways Minister has to be announced. Ms Banerjee has made it clear that she expects her party, the Trinamool Congress, to retain this ministry. The DMK also wants to be compensated for the Telecom Ministry - its leader, A Raja, resigned in November over allegations of corruption and is now in Tihar Jail. The government replaced him with Kapil Sibal of the Congress, who is also the Education Minister.
While tweaking his Cabinet in January, the PM had said that a larger reconfiguration would take place after the Budget session of Parliament. Ministers braced for this in the first week of June. However, the government's attention has been hijacked by the Lokpal Bill controversy - expected to provide the basis for a tough new law against corruption, the Bill has seen activists representing civil society battling the government over the basic features of the new Bill, like whether it should apply to the Prime Minister. The government has committed publicly to delivering the Bill by June 30, after which it will be introduced in Parliament.