Poll-wary Sheila may soon rejig cabinet and assembly set up
Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit may go in for a cabinet reshuffle and rejig the legislative set-up within the next few weeks, Congress sources said. Atul Mathur reports.
Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit may go in for a cabinet reshuffle and rejig the legislative set-up within the next few weeks, Congress sources said.
With speculations about Dikshit being given a berth in the Union Cabinet laid to rest, the focus has now shifted to a reshuffle in the Delhi cabinet.
Party sources said Dikshit may soon make some changes in her council of ministers and the leadership in the legislative assembly. Sources said Dikshit was not happy with the working of the some ministers and with some leaders in the legislative set up. With assembly elections just about a year away Dikshit is also tasked with accommodating some disgruntled and loyal faces in her team.
"There are a couple of ministers that she (Dikshit) wanted to replace in the last reshuffle too but could not convince the central leadership. She may have her way this time," a senior Congress leader said.
Dikshit had made changes in her cabinet in Februray 2011 when she dropped Mangat Ram Singhal and rewarded her loyal MLA Ramakant Goswami with a cabinet berth.
Dikshit's decision to appoint Mukesh Sharma, a four-time MLA, to the post of spokesperson of Congress Legislative Party just ahead of Delhi assembly's budget session in May, is also being seen as Dikshit's first step to neutralise some of her vocal detractors.
"Dikshit has to fill the post of her parliamentary secretary in the assembly, which is lying vacant since Jangpura MLA Tarvinder Singh Marwah resigned. The legislators know the post is up for grabs and they have already started lobbying for it," said a senior Congress leader, requesting anonymity.
Sources said Dikshit may also replace Amrish Gautam, deputy speaker in the assembly, with some loyalist. The fact that senior MLA Barkha Singh was asked to run the House in the absence of speaker Yoganand Shastri on the last day of budget session while Gautam was present in the house, confirms that his days are numbered.