DMK inclusion: now the action shifted to Chennai

By Gopal Ethiraj from Chennai

Chennai, 23 May (asiantribune.com): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi reached Chennai Friday afternoon and went into discussion with the Executive Council of the party this evening over the non acceptance of the Congress formula of accommodating DMK MPs in the Central ministry.

Before leaving New Delhi with his son and MP, M.K.Azhagiri, the CM said the DMK would give only outside support to the Congress-led government after talks on the distribution of ministerial berths failed, hours before the new government was to be sworn in at Rashtrapati Bhavan. “The formula given by Congress has to be discussed at the party's executive council meeting," the DMK chief said.

The DMK appears to have made up its mind; the crisis managers within the Congress who made desperate efforts since Friday morning to convince the DMK to join the Congress-led government, were not successful.

Now the action being shifted to Chennai, the DMK's executive council decision is awaited as also the Congress’ senior party leader and Minister Gulam Nabi Azad’s arrival on Saturday here for another attempt to resolve the deadlock.

However, the Congress continued to be a "friend", said senior leader T.R. Baalu who left the national capital to reach Chennai early in the morning after talks between the two failed on Thursday night. Only the DMK MPs were left behind attended the swearing-in ceremony of the Manmohan Singh government in Delhi Friday evening.

Would the Congress’ general secretary and Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad be able to mollify the DMK, which has contributed 18 seats to the United Progressive Alliance's (UPA) kitty of 322 - including outside support from the Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), and also led the combine in the state, remains to be seen.

The DMK is asking for seven ministerial berths -- three cabinet level, two ministers of state (MoS) with independent charge and two other MoS. The Congress is willing to give two cabinet and five MoS berths, what it had in the earlier government.

Sources here said late night that a formula seems to have been worked out between the Congress and the DMK regarding the portfolios in the new UPA government. It is indicated that the DMK has settled for three Cabinet berths and 4 berths of Minister of State (MoS).

Sources also indicated that Dayanidhi Maran, nephew of DMK chief Karunanidhi, would get Communications ministry. It is said that TR Baalu and A Raja would get the ministries of Chemicals & Fertilizers and Heavy Industries respectively.

Sources have also said that M. K Azhagiri, son of Karunanidhi, would be given the Health ministry, and that the Women and Child Development ministry would be given to Kanimozhi, daughter of the DMK chief. Jagatrakshakan, it is indicated, would be given the ministry of Tourism and the Minister of State (Mos) Railways to Vijayan.

The composition seems elite

With focus on stability, and keen on keeping an above-board image for his new government, it seems, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, of course under the direction of party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, has largely relied on experience, credibility and ability while selecting his first batch of 19 Cabinet ministers.

There was a report that in the present Parliament there are 130 members with criminal records and tainted image. It seems good, the selection process has a style and scale.

Senior ministers in the outgoing Cabinet Pranab Mukherjee, P Chidambaram, A K Antony, NCP leader Sharad Pawar, Kamal Nath and Murli Deora and leader of Congress ally Mamata Banerjee of Trinamool Congress will all head important ministries.

Six former CMs are in

Six of the 19 Union Ministers inducted into the new Cabinet are former chief ministers. They represent four states -- Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala and Jammu and Kashmir.

Karnataka and Maharashtra will have two former chief ministers each in the new Council of Ministers.

Former chief ministers of Karnataka, M Veerapa Moily and S M Krishna, along with Sushil Kumar Shinde and Sharad Pawar, former Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, have been inducted in the Cabinet. Mr. Shinde held the cabinet ministry for Power in the UPA government while Mr. Pawar was the Agriculture Minister.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and A K Antony, the former Kerala Chief Minister who was the Defence Minister in the previous ministry, are the other two.

South has six in the 19

From the southern states, there are five inducted in the cabinet in the first installment. They are A.K.Antony and Vayalar Ravi from Kerala; S.M.Krishna and Veerappa Moiley from Karnataka; P.Chidambaram from Tamil Nadu and Jaipal Reddy from Andhra Pradesh.

- Asian Tribune -