Negotiations may mar Cabinet reshuffle

Last-minute negotiations seemed to be in full swing between the Congress Party and its allies for a Cabinet reshuffle tomorrow, putting a question mark on the whole exercise.

Though no new faces are expected to join the Cabinet, senior ministers are likely to be assigned additional responsibilities, if at all.

According to top sources in the government, while it was earlier meant to be an exercise to fill up vacant Congress quota seats in the Cabinet, the resignation of Rashtriya Janata Dal MP and former water resources minister Jaiprakash Narayan Yadav from the Council of Ministers seems to have made the matter complex.

The sources added that RJD chief Lalu Prasad had yet to give his consent for filling up the post vacated by Jaiprakash Narayan Yadav and looked in a mood to bargain for his pound of flesh. He had apparently asked that he be given another Cabinet berth rather than a replacement for a minister of state slot.

"The reshuffle had been fixed for Friday, till this afternoon, when matters started looking shaky," said a top source in the government. At the time of filing of this report, no official communique had been sent to Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Sources close to the RJD chief said Yadav had in fact decided to speak to the prime minister on the matter. Speculation was rife that Minister of State for Food and Civil Supplies Akhilesh Singh would be elevated to Cabinet rank.

A Cabinet reshuffle has been long due for the UPA government, with each Parliament session seeing the exit of one or more ministers. Till now, the exit list includes Shibu Soren, Jagdish Tytler, Jaiprakash Narayan Yadav, and Sunil Dutt.