Sweeping changes likely in Cabinet reshuffle

SMITA GUPTA & SANJAY DUTTA
NEW DELHI: There was frenetic activity within the BJP and amongst its members in the Union government as the Cabinet reshuffle scheduled for Wednesday took on the contours of a major exercise. Ministers and senior party functionaries frantically lobbied for and against being moved around or dropped as Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani confabulated with BJP president Venkaiah Naidu late into the night.According to informed sources, a decision has been taken to drop communications, IT and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan from the Cabinet and induct him into the party as general secretary. Disinvestment minister Arun Shourie is also set to be gently kicked upstairs, to full charge of commerce and industry; his former ministry will come under the control of finance minister Jaswant Singh. The fate of Shourie's , oil minister Ram Naik, was hanging in the balance Tuesday night. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, sources said, would take a final view on Wednesday morning when he holds a meeting with Advani and Naidu. Mahajan's impending shift is said to have resulted from Naidu's complaint that if Jaitley, one of his key general secretaries, was moving to the Cabinet, he was entitled to get an equally important replacement. Sources said Jaitley, whom the PM is keen to have back, is likely to get his old portfolio of law, justice and company affairs. He will also hold additional charge of communications, the logic being that most telecom policy issues seem mired in legal tangles. Meanwhile, the re-entry of C P Thakur into the Cabinet seemed a certainty. Health minister Shatrughan Sinha gave an interview defending himself against the criticism he has been facing, but it seemed clear that he would be getting a new job in the next 24 hours. There was also talk of Sushma Swaraj, Jagmohan and Sahib Singh getting new portfolios. Two other Cabinet vacancies were created Tuesday night when Coal and Mines Minister Uma Bharati and Law Minister K Jana Krishnamurthy also put in their papers. While Uma will take over the MP state unit, Krishnamurthy appears to be headed for political wilderness. Uma's exit could well pave the way for minister of state Vasundhara Raje being forced to hand in her resignation so that she can concentrate on her job as Rajasthan state chief. While former Gujarat CM Keshubhai Patel is likely to be inducted into the cabinet, two MPs who may enter as ministers of state are Dilip Sanghani from Gujarat, close to CM Narendra Modi, and Dilip Singh Judeo from Chhatisgarh.