Sack-o-phobia: Sonia can't let go

<div class="section1"><div align="left" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="0" width="32.1%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><img src="/photo/869097.cms" alt="/photo/869097.cms" border="0" /></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal">NEW DELHI: Congress boss Sonia Gandhi has mastered most aspects of political management, but she is still queasy about sacking.The pending files in that department are thus piling up.<br /><br />The names of chief ministers Amrinder Singh in Punjab and ND Tiwari in Uttaranchal have been high on the removal list for some time, and there is clamour now to add Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil to it and fast. <br /><br />But the when is the big question, because 10 Janpath tends to take its time on these matters. Insiders say after being given a long rope, Tiwari plans to be nice and has promised to quit next month.<br /><br />"Look at Antony" is the chorus. The belated removal of the Kerala chief minister after a shocking showing by the Congress in the state in the Lok Sabha elections, had everyone puzzled. <br /><br />The wipe-out came just three years after the Congress-led UDF won the assembly elections by the biggest victory margin ever. An internal committee set up to look into the party''s disastrous performance in the Lok Sabha polls submitted its report within a month, but Sonia took her time axing Antony.<script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script><br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section2"><div align="left" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="0" width="32.1%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><img src="/photo/869099.cms" alt="/photo/869099.cms" border="0" /></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal"><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">HOME ALONE</span><br /><br />Now there is Patil. Within four months in power, the home minister has managed to mishandle two sensitive matters - burning Manipur and talks with the Hurriyat in Kashmir -- and even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is now trying to minimise the Patil effect. <br /><br />Kinder colleagues explain that "Patil tends to depend too much on bureaucrats and they fail him." Others call it "pure inefficacy".<br /><br />Whatever, the hot number on the political satta these days are the odds on Patil''s removal from the Home Ministry, where the mild-mannered minister is clearly out of his depth. <br /><br />The more flamboyant Congressmen are betting 70:30 on his removal, while even the most conservative and circumspect senior partymen give him only a 50:50 chance of holding on to his charge. <br /><br />But no word yet from 10 Janpath, and there may be none.<br /><br />What''s keeping Patil there, said sources close to Sonia, is his being non-threatening, as much as the headache of finding a replacement. <br /><br />The objections to Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who was widely touted as the first choice for the crucial ministry at the time of government formation, remain. Mukherjee can appropriate much power, whereas Patil is more a meek yes man, insiders point out. <br /><br />Patil is helped also by the fact that Sonia tends to put off such unpleasant moments. <script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script><br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section3"><div align="left" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="0" width="32.1%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><img src="/photo/869102.cms" alt="/photo/869102.cms" border="0" /></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal"><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">BALLE BALLE</span><br /><br />Patil is not alone on the waiting list. On the day Antony quit, political pundits went to town predicting that Punjab Chief Minister Amrinder Singh would be next to go and soon. He''s still around. <br /><br />Worried Congress leaders reckon that by the time Amrinder is through with Punjab, the Congress will be gifting the state away to the opposition. <br /><br />"The Punjab elections are still about two-and-a-half years away. Unless something is done to check Amrinder immediately, we''ll be wiped out," a senior Union minister admitted.<br /><br />Amrinder has been on the list much before the Lok Sabha elections. Every time he visits the Capital, there is speculation that it shall be his last as CM. Somewhere along, Sonia even stopped granting audience but nothing has deterred the Patiala royal. <br /><br />Sonia has been unable to give the final word and Amrinder goes about his business as usual.<script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script><br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section4"><div align="left" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="0" width="32.1%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><img src="/photo/869105.cms" alt="/photo/869105.cms" border="0" /></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal"><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">OVER AND OUT</span><br /><br />Next doors, in hilly Uttaranchal, an entertaining game of football has been on for many months now. Chief Minister ND Tiwari, who is nearing 90, has been at loggerheads with local leader Harish Rawat and the party is at the receiving end.<br /><br />Leadership and governance have suffered as internal wrangling take up much time, with either group landing up in Delhi to crib almost every month. <br /><br />Add to that several unfavourable reports and Tiwari''s continuance has been under a cloud from the time he took over. But Sonia is loath to be harsh. <br /><br />Now, Tiwari has himself solved her problem. He has promised to quit as Uttaranchal CM next month.<script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script><br /></div> </div>