The Hindu : National : Trimming Ministries: Congress lays down guidelines

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Tuesday, Jun 29, 2004

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National

Trimming Ministries: Congress lays down guidelines

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JUNE 28. With just a little over a week left to trim its Ministries in various States as per the new law on the size of the Council of Ministers, the Congress has laid down guidelines for undertaking the exercise that has set off a round of hard bargaining.

The Congress spokesperson, Anand Sharma, told reporters that performance, image and capability of the Ministers would be the criteria for deciding who would retain their berths.

The party leadership would also seek to maintain the social and regional balance while trimming its various Council of Ministers across the country.

Asked whether such parameters — particularly image, performance and capability — would not affect the political fortunes of those left out, Mr. Sharma said only a comparative assessment would be made and it was not aimed at writing off any one person.

Among the Congress-ruled States where the Council of Ministers needs to be trimmed are Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Punjab. Already, Ministers of many of these States have pitched camps in the Capital to lobby with the central leadership.

On yesterday's reshuffle within the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC), Mr. Sharma said it was part of the organisational revamp that began before the Lok Sabha elections. Already, three PCCs had been reconstituted — the other two being Orissa and Kerala.

As for the former MPCC president, Ranjit Deshmukh's statement that he had been made a scapegoat, Mr. Sharma said that was his personal opinion and maintained that restructuring of the organisation had to take place in States where elections were due.

Meanwhile, even as the Congress stated that the Goa Governor, Kedarnath Sahni, had lost the moral right to remain in office after the way ``he abused his Constitutional office,'' the party was guarded in its response to the former Deputy Prime Minister, L. K. Advani, meeting the President on the issue of removal/appointment of Governors. Stating that the Bharatiya Janata Party was complaining about everything, Mr. Sharma said ``it is for the Home Minister to comment on the issue.''

However, he did add that those who were purely political appointees should retrospect.

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