New Delhi:
When Corporate Affairs Minister Murli Deora declared his desire to quit the Cabinet, it may have come as a relief for Dr Manmohan Singh - that he has one person less to accommodate or take a decision on.
After holding the Prime Minister's post for seven years, Dr Singh may not be able to call himself a reluctant politician any longer. But he's certainly been reluctant, even diffident, when it comes to changing his Cabinet.
In the corridors of power, reshuffle may be the buzzword but no one's quite sure in what form it'll be. Most are wondering who Dr Singh, in his quiet assertive style, will choose to be part of his Cabinet.
On the backfoot for multiple scams and an unwillingness to communicate directly, Dr Singh's critics say the dithering on the Cabinet reshuffle is yet another example of paralysis at the top levels of government.
"Our party believes the Cabinet reshuffle would not make much of an impact. There should be a change at the top," BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.
Ironically, Dr Singh's style stands in contrast to even Congress Prime Ministers, like Rajiv Gandhi who had 17 reshuffles in the course of just three years.
"I have no memory of how many times there were Cabinet reshuffles. All that I have memory of is that it happened very very often. He constantly felt that he should make an example of ministers or civil servants, who went wrong," said Mani Shankar Aiyar, former minister in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).
Old-timers say Rajiv Gandhi's personal likes did not define his Cabinet choices.
Mr Aiyer says portfolios changed numerous times during Rajiv Gandhi's tenure. In contrast, there has been only one minor reshuffle in UPA-II. And during the first tenure of the UPA, there were three reshuffles in all. Experts say frequent reshuffles were a luxury which those in coalition governments cannot afford.
"Rajiv Gandhi had a majority of 402 seats. He could take liberties. In a coalition government, you have to satisfy your partners so that the government can be stable. Regional parties who have helped the Congress, of earlier the BJP, form governments at the Centre, have provided a mechanism of stability. But they have been too demanding," said HK Dua, former media advisor to the Prime Minister.
Manmohan Singh also has to contend with the several disconnects between the party and the government. During the last reshuffle, for example, the Prime Minister's keenness on Montek Singh Ahulwalia and before that C Rangarajan to get the Finance portfolio was squarely rejected by the Congress party.
"In a democracy, the Cabinet is a manifestation of the various political balances. Often, the media likes to think it as a team of experts. They are not experts. They represent different regions of the country, they represent different communities in the country, they represent different castes in the country, they represent different ideological persuasions, within the Congress party and the ruling coalition," said Sanjay Baru, former media advisor to the Prime Minister.
Never before has the UPA been so badly in need of an image re-vamp. But even at this stage, sources say, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister may only tinker with changes and not bring the axe down, some say, at the cost of the government's own credibility.