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Intense tussle within Congress for plum posts
Ironically, the problem wasn't so much with the UPA partners as it was with Congress aspirants unwilling to emulate Sonia Gandhi.
The euphoria over dislodging the BJP-led NDA from power was replaced with bitterness over the distribution of spoils. And ironically, the problem wasn't so much with the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) partners as it was with Congress aspirants unwilling to emulate Sonia Gandhi.
Initially, the reading was that portfolio-distribution wouldn't be a problem within the Congress after Sonia's own refusal to be PM. But bad habits die hard. Most of her partymen sworn in on Saturday night spent the weekend jockeying for plum portfolios. And where these weren't forthcoming, the impulse was to ask for two-in-one deals citing the 'Sharad Pawar model'. The NCP chief was promised food and agriculture in lieu of the Defence Ministry he originally sought.
The induction of Shivraj Patil, who lost his Latur seat, not only caused heartburn in the Congress but raised the hackles of the Left parties. Speculation that he might land up in the Defence Ministry triggered a see-saw battle among the Congress biggies — Pranab Mukherjee, Arjun Singh and Patil.
Arjun's rivals in the party maintain that he prompted Laloo Yadav to demand the home portfolio with the rank of deputy PM. His gameplan? To keep Mukherjee, a fellow CWC member, out of the Home Ministry and consequently the number two slot in the government. As a counter to such moves, the West Bengal veteran, on being sworn in after Dr Manmohan Singh, recalled his number two standing even under Indira Gandhi in 1980.
The bottomline on Sunday was that most Congress ministers weren't satisfied with the portfolios they were speculated to get. The result: while terrorists struck in a big way in Kashmir, the country was without a home minister.
Besides Ram Vilas Paswan's standoff over railways with Laloo Yadav, the announcement of portfolios was delayed by rival claims on defence and home. Arjun was unhappy on two counts: what he was getting (HRD) and what he wasn't (defence and home). The tussle also put a question mark on the External Affairs Ministry 'earmarked' for K. Natwar Singh.
On their part, Sonia's crisis managers made and withdrew offers to Paswan under pressure from other allies. Till Saturday, he was tipped to be minister for health and for fertiliser and chemicals. But on Sunday, health was replaced by steel, the PMK keen on keeping the Health Ministry where it had an MoS share in the NDA regime. In between, the promise of communications, in place of railways, was withdrawn at the DMK's behest.
Sonia also sent word that she'd request the PM to create a new "heavyweight" ministry befitting Paswan's political profile. But the Dalit leader rejected the idea without prejudice to the Congress chief.
The Laloo-Paswan tussle has, in fact, driven the first thin wedge in the coalition that could find reflection in the 2005 assembly polls in Bihar. In fact, the UPA may also face embarrassing moments over Laloo and his 'tainted' minister Taslimuddin when Parliament meets from June 2-10.
