Cabinet reshuffle: Kamat quits, Moily blames ’vested interests’, Jena sulks


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NEW DELHI: Open griping over the changes carried out by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cast a shadow on the exercise on Tuesday, with Gurudas Kamat deciding to resign from the government while Veerappa Moily made no secret of his pique by hitting out at "vested interests".

 

Although Kamat was elevated to the select group of ministers of state holding independent charge, he was upset over having been assigned the responsibility of drinking water and sanitation.

 

Moily’s transfer from the law ministry to the corporate affairs was being unanimously seen as a setback.

 

Vilasrao Deshmukh, who has come down a few notches after his shift from the rural development ministry to the earth sciences and science and technology, put up a brave front, but could not refrain making the sardonic remark "it is all a game of kho-kho".

 

Moily made little effort to conceal his displeasure. Talking to TOI after the swearing-in, he said that the vested interests had maligned his performance. "Vested interests saw to it that the failures of other ministries in Supreme Court were put on the law ministry".

 

In a series of similar conversations, he bluntly said that law ministry cannot be hanged for the failures of administrative ministries — seen as a reference to 2G scam and black money cases under ministries of telecom and finance.

 

Although he said that he was looking forward to his stint in the corporate affairs ministry, a visibly tense Moily claimed that he had been moved when the reform measures taken by him were maturing.

 

Kamat, who was elevated to the select group of ministers of state holding independent charge, wrote to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying that he be relieved of his ministerial role and be allowed to work as an "active party worker".

 

The Mumbai politician conveyed his desire to quit soon after he was allocated the responsibility of water and sanitation. The portfolio, hived off the ministry of rural development, must have come as a disappointment because of the speculation that the Lok Sabha member from Mumbai north-west was expected to be assigned the independent charge of either civil aviation or power: both considered to be weightier portfolios from what he finally landed.

 

Kamat also stayed away from the swearing-in ceremony. Although the MoS denied that he was disappointed over the portfolio and affirmed his "highest regard" for Congress chief and the Prime Minister, sources said that he had indeed protested against his fresh assignment.

 

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made light of his protests. "Some unhappiness is bound to be there," Singh said. The philosophical shrug came with the assertion that decisions were made keeping in view of the nation’s interests. He also indicated that there would not be any more reshuffle before the polls, virtually tossing the ball in the court of dissatisfied ministers.

 

Besides Kamat, Srikant Jena, who was not appointed a full-scale minister yet again, was also learnt to be unhappy, although he did not go public with his resentment. Jena attended the swearing-in.

 

Congress leadership frowned on Kamat’s grumbling. Stressing that the Mumbai MP had been elevated and that his new responsibilities also marked an opportunity for the minister to do a lot for Mumbai, sources pointed out that drinking water and sanitation carved out into a separate portfolio in view of the recognition that it marks a big challenge.

 

"We thought that he with his of the city’s problems and his enhanced political stature, would seize the opportunity to make a difference. It is regretful that he has not appreciated this," said a senior Congress source.

 

In a statement to media, Kamat insisted that his desire to quit government had nothing to do with the choice of his portfolio. "There is no question of any disappointment over portfolio, which is itself an important one, with concerns related to the requirements of a large section of the people. The reasons are totally personal," Kamat said, seeking to rebut the view that his action marked a defiance of the leadership.

 

Jena, who has been given the independent charge of the ministry of statistics and programme implementation, is unhappy for a different reason. The grouse of the Lok Sabha member from Orissa, who served as a Cabinet minister in two United Front governments in the 90s, is that he has been refused the same rank once again. He is sticking to his demand for a parity with the rank he held in the UF government.

 

Unlike Kamat’s case, Jena’s is being viewed sympathetically, with sources indicating that the PM has assured him of a redressal.

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