Dasmunsi's Bengal charge to raise Cong's anti-Left pitch

UPA GOVERNMENT SHIFTS INTO POLL GEAR

Reshuffle fever is catching on in the capital. And the first Union minister it has struck is Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, minister for information and broadcasting and parliamentary affairs. He has a problem of plenty.

His supporters have lobbied fiercely to have him anointed the president of the West Bengal Congress. Party President Sonia Gandhi has agreed to hand over the state unit to him but there is a political cost to be paid "" Dasmunsi can retain only one ministry.

Dasmunsi's supporters argue otherwise but the party feels his Kolkata assignment will leave him little time to manage two high-profile ministries.

According to top sources in the party, the final call would be taken by Gandhi, but Dasmunsi would prefer to retain the more glamourous information and broadcasting ministry. The reshuffle is expected this month.

Meanwhile, Dasmunsi's return to West Bengal is being seen significant as he has been more vocal and active against the CPI(M) and Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee than former PCC chief Pranab Mukherjee.

Dasmunsi arranged an AICC (All India Congress Committee) delegation's visit to Nandigram after the March police firing there.

Tensions between the CPI(M) and Dasmunsi rose to a point where Bhattacharjee and party General Secretary Sitaram Yechury lodged a formal complaint against him with Gandhi.

His appointment is a signal from Gandhi that while her party is running the government with the help of the Left, she is starting preparations for the general election.

After the debacle in the last Lok Sabha election, state president and current Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee resigned as the state party chief. Strangely, the resignation was not officially accepted till 2008.

Mukherjee and Dasmunsi loyalists from Bengal used to frequently rush to New Delhi more or less at the same time, stay at the same place and separately meet Gandhi to lobby for their leaders.