New team to induct young blood

MANDATE 2004

Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kapil Sibal and Ajay Maken may get Cabinet berths.

If the Communist Party of India (Marxist) does decide to join the government, Sitaram Yechury is sure to have a place in Cabinet. "Sonia Gandhi is fond of him and would like to include him in the government. The Left will be given populist portfolios like railways, and food and civil supplies. The major economic ministries and policy portfolios will remain with the Congress," a Congress leader said.

The induction of young blood in the government will be a priority in keeping with Sonia Gandhi's public criticism of the BJP during the campaign "" that the government was being run by a gerontocracy. This means people like Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kapil Sibal and Ajay Maken are certain to be inducted into the new Cabinet.

Parties that join the government will give a list of their nominees to the Congress, which will then forward them to President APJ Abdul Kalam. Before that, the allies will work out a common minimum programme that will have elements that encompass the opinions of all the parties that form the secular democratic front.

The Congress is expecting that professionals like former foreign secretary JN Dixit, former Planning Commission adviser Jairam Ramesh and former Vice-Chief of defence staff, Gen MM Lakhera will be put in charge of strategising the party's future tasks.

It is expecting Manmohan Singh to be the next finance minister, Pranab Mukherjee to be the next foreign minister and Jananayaka Peravai leader P Chidambaram to join the government. NCP leader Sharad Pawar could get back his old portfolio, defence.

The other likely faces in the cabinet are Jaipal Reddy, Kamal Nath and Priyaranjan Dasmunshi.

Should the Left parties decide to join the government, leaders like Somnath Chatterjee and Nilotpal Basu are expected to get important portfolios. Key alliance leaders like Laloo Prasad Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan may also be offered Cabinet berths.

Mayawati has announced that she will support the government. But whether the Congress will want the Bahujan Samaj Party's support and will give it a portfolio is another matter.

The government-formation exercise is likely to begin only after May 17 when the Left parties convey their plans.