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Vajpayee begins talks to expand Cabinet

George Iype in New Delhi

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has begun talks with his coalition partners to ensure that the proposed Cabinet expansion this week does not result in any hysterics.

But the alliance partners' demands have sent him scurrying for help. External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh and Defence Minister George Fernandes are his advisers in selecting the new list of ministers.

Even Bharatiya Janata Party president Shashikant 'Kushabhau' Thakre has submitted a list of nominees to be included. The BJP leadership has reportedly demanded the inclusion of 15 party MPs in the government.

Though Vajpayee has succeeded in getting the Trinamul Congress to agree to join the government, his supporters admit that his problems can only get worse now.

Banerjee has written to Vajpayee to say that she will not join the Cabinet, but has submitted a list of nominees and demanded specific ministries.

The Trinamul Congress chief wants Vajpayee to make her colleagues Ajit Panja, Sudip Bandopadhya and Krishna Bose ministers. She has also demanded the railway portfolio for Panja and industries for Bandopadhya.

"We have indicated our preference for some particular ministries that our nominees are comfortable with," Panja told Rediff On The NeT. "But it is up to the prime minister to decide the allocation of portfolios. We will abide by his decision."

Banerjee's demand for the railways has put Vajpayee in a spot of bother as it would mean divesting senior Samata Party politician Nitish Kumar of the coveted portfolio.

As a compromise, sources said, Vajpayee may induct a Trinamul leader as minister of state for railways in place of Ram Naik who the BJP leadership wants promoted to Cabinet rank.

Banerjee is not the only coalition partner dictating terms on the allocation of portfolios. All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary J Jayalalitha has also forwarded a list of four nominees -- Lok Sabha members Dindigul C Sreenivasan, C Gopal, and K P Munusamy, and Rajya Sabha member Niraikulathan.

Two of her nominees will be replacements for Sedapatti R Muthiah and R K Kumar who quit last year. While she has demanded the old portfolios, Muthiah's surface transport and Kumar's revenue, banking & insurance, for the replacements, she has a new demand: that Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister V K Ramamurthy be stripped of the portfolio in favour of Niraikulathan.

Though Ramamurthy was Jayalalitha's choice for the petroleum ministry when Vajpayee formed his Cabinet last year, the Tamizhaga Rajiv Congress leader has fallen out with her since.

Reconciling the demands of his disparate allies is going to be a daunting task for the PM. In fact, he had put off expansion of his Cabinet three months ago for a similar reason.

A senior BJP politician said Vajpayee will induct more ministers but probably not reshuffle the existing ones as that may aggravate the party's problems with its partners. "It will be impossible to give the high-profile ministries of their choice to both Jayalalitha and Banerjee because it will upset the others," the politician told Rediff On The NeT.

Despite their demands, the prime minister hopes the allies will ultimately abide by his decision. For instance, the BJP politician pointed out, though Jayalalitha had vociferously demanded the finance ministry for Dr Subramanian Swamy last year, she fell in line when it was pointed out that only a BJP candidate would become finance minister.

Vajpayee also has to satisfy other allies like the Samata Party, the Biju Janata Dal, and the Shiromani Akali Dal. In fact, these parties have been facing revolts from within their state units in Bihar, Orissa, and Punjab, respectively, as many of their second-rung leaders want to become central ministers.

Sources said Vajpayee is planning to give one ministerial berth each to the three parties.

The Pattali Makkal Katchi and the Marumalarchi DMK, two estranged allies of the AIADMK, are also expected to get ministerial berths.

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