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Hegde left out of expanded ministry as well

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today effected a mini-expansion of his Cabinet by inducting four new ministers, but refused to include former commerce minister Ramakrishna Hegde, telling senior Janata Dal (United) politicians that one of them would have to vacate his ministerial berth to accommodate him.

The new ministers sworn in were C P Thakur, Arun Shourie and Rajnath Singh of the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal's Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa.

Top government sources told rediff.com that the prime minister stuck to his stand that he had more than fulfilled the JD-U's quota by selecting four ministers of Cabinet rank and two ministers of state. So, if Hegde had to be accommodated, one of the four JD-U Cabinet ministers would have to quit.

JD-U president Sharad Yadav and some of his senior party colleagues had been meeting Vajpayee from time to time over the past six weeks to convince him to include Hegde. But the prime minister put the onus for the task on them.

Hegde, president of the Lok Shakti, is now likely to create more trouble in the formal merger of his organisation with the JD-U.

No senior JD-U politician was available for comment on Hegde's exclusion. But spokesman Mohan Prakash said, "How can anybody comment? It is the prime minister's prerogative."

Reports trickling into the BJP headquarters indicated that a "sulking" Hegde had gone into a huddle with his supporters, many of whom are saying that the days of uncertainty for their mentor are over and he will unfurl his political strategy shortly.

Rajnath Singh's inclusion reveals that Vajpayee is going by the plan to contain ousted Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh. Rajnath Singh's shift to the Centre vacates the Uttar Pradesh BJP chief's slot, which he has been holding. This was one of Kalyan Singh's major demands, and he will now have to curtail his dissident activities.

Rajnath Singh being made a Union minister is thus being regarded as a masterstroke. BJP sources revealed that the party high command would soon send an "unambiguous warning" to Kalyan Singh and his cohorts to play ball or face stern action.

C P Thakur's induction is a message to the partymen in Bihar that Vajpayee values their contribution. Thakur, who won the Patna Lok Sabha seat against stiff opposition from the Rashtriya Janata Dal, is seen as a loyal party worker who will do the leadership's bidding.

His induction is bound to pose a challenge to the three senior central ministers from Bihar -- Sharad Yadav, Ram Vilas Paswan and Nitish Kumar, all from the JD-U. Being a BJP politician, Thakur is bound to now become the "natural conduit" for the prime minister in Bihar's political affairs.

Shourie's inclusion might have come as a surprise to many, but BJP workers contended that his "missionary zeal" in trying to unearth the truth in the Bofors scandal had impressed the leadership. Known to hold staunch Hindu views, Shourie, a senior journalist, has criticised and questioned the Congress's role in the gun deal.

Dhindsa's inclusion was expected as SAD chief Parkash Singh Badal had openly stated that a representative of his party would soon be joining the government.

ALSO SEE:
Vajpayee's gift to the Bhumihars

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