Row over Delhi Cabinet continues

new delhi: as the congress leadership squabbled over the number of ministers to be dropped from the delhi cabinet, suspense on the composition of the new cabinet continued till late on monday. the list is likely to be finalised by tuesday. even after hectic parleys throughout the day, chief minister sheila dikshit and senior congress leaders failed to finalise the new cabinet.since last wednesday, when the ministers collectively resigned from the cabinet, dikshit and aicc general secretary in charge of delhi kamal nath have met several times. both leaders have also been summoned by party president sonia gandhi, but a final decision has not been reached yet. sources said on monday that the tug-of-war continued between dikshit and nath on the number of ministers to be dropped. while dikshit had been insisting on cosmetic changes — dropping two ministers — nath wanted a total overhaul. sources said dikshit had shortlisted names of her parliamentary secretary ajay maken and motilal bakolia for her new cabinet. nath, however, has been pressuring dikshit to induct deputy speaker of the delhi assembly kiran chaudhury, raj kumar chauhan, haroon yusuf and rajesh jain. according to dikshit's close aide, she has been reluctant to make drastic changes. ''new faces would mean starting from the scratch. she would have to take them into confidence, make them understand her style of functioning. it is rather late for a government already in its fourth year,'' a source said. sources said dikshit also feared a spurt in dissident activites if she goes in for a major shake-up. ''the dislodged ministers will align with the opposition camp. sidelined loyalists will join forces with dissidents. dikshit knows a major reshuffle will mean more enemies,'' a senior leader said. while dikshit has been in favour of a quick decision, her detractors are interested in delaying the process. dikshit reportedly wants to drop food minister yoganand shasti and social welfare minister krishna tirath, both known to be dissidents.