PM sends Gurudas Kamat's resignation to President

New Delhi: It was the hottest ticket in town. But Congress leader Gurudas Kamat sent his regrets. He refused to attend the swearing-in of the new Cabinet ministers at Rashtrapati Bhawan yesterday, allegedly to protest against the fact that he wasn't among them.

And today, the Prime Minister accepted Mr Kamat's resignation from the Council of Ministers. Hours before that, the Congress made it clear that Mr Kamat's bluff had been called. "He has clarified that he has not said anything about the party. But I would like to add that these things should not happen," rebuked party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi at a press conference in Delhi today.

Mr Kamat denied - with his second press release in 24 hours - that his show of defiance was provoked by his transfer yesterday to the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation - a department that some say Mr Kamat  deemed too low-key . He had earlier served as Minister of State for both Home Affairs and Technology.

"I would like to emphasise and reiterate that my request to relieve me was no pressure... it is a decision  I have taken to voluntarily withdraw from active politics and would not want to be in any position either in the Government or in the Party Organisation." (Read: Resignation not pressure tactic, says Kamat)

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Mr Kamat's pique does not bode well for the Congress given that he would have played an important role in the party's plans for the municipal elections in Mumbai next year.  His track record in the town is impressive. Mr Kamat is a five-time MP from Mumbai. As chief of the Congress in Mumbai, he was credited with his party winning five of Mumbai's six Lok Sabha seats in 2004.  The dream run was interrupted when the party lost the Mumbai municipality in 2007.  Mr Kamat decided then to focus on national-level politics.

Those close to him say that what added insult to the injury of being overlooked for a Cabinet rank was that his old rival Milind Deora received yesterday the Minister of State for IT and Communications that had been Mr Kamat's designation.

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Mr Deora today tried to talk down the controversy. "How can I say whether he deserved a place in the Cabinet or not?" he asked. "Ultimately these things are left to PM and Mrs Gandhi... I am happy to fill his shoes," he added.