Reshuffle won’t affect mantris from the state?

PM Manmohan Singh is set to effect a mild rejig in his cabinet today, but as far as ministers the state are concerned, no drastic change is expected to take place

Reshuffle won't affect mantris from the state?

PM Manmohan Singh is set to effect a mild rejig in his cabinet today, but as far as ministers the state are concerned, no drastic change is expected to take place

The union cabinet reshuffle, which is actually a tone down -- thanks to the latest political developments in the national capital -- is not expected to bring a drastic change for Karnataka, as the three cabinet ministers from the state are expected to continue in their respective positions.

As it stands? Senior Congress leaders in the state believe that there
won't be a great change after the reshuffle. File pic

While Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is set to effect a mild rejig in his cabinet today, K H Muniappa, railways minister for state, is lobbying hard for elevation to the cabinet rank. If he succeeds, the state will have four cabinet berths.

"I don't think there will be a great change after the reshuffle, as far as the state is concerned. Muniappa deserves to be a cabinet minister, but it is up to the PM to take that call," said B K Hariprasad, general secretary of All India Congress Committee (AICC)

Staying put?
Oscar Fernandes and Dharam Singh are the other two leaders from the state trying hard for cabinet berth, but according to Congress sources, their chances are slim. Speculations were rife about the change of portfolios of the three ministers from the stateu00a0 -- S M Krishna, minister for external affairs, Veerappa Moily, law minister and Mallikarjuna Kharge, labour minister; however, the indications are that they would be continuing in their current positions.

The party sources said that the high command was in favour of shifting Moily from law to some other portfolio. The minister is said to have bargained for his existing post as he wanted to complete the exclusive building for the law ministry, which is coming up in the capital.

Building concerns
While the construction of Jawahar Bhavan -- a separate building for the ministry for external affairs -- is almost complete, a separate building is planned for the law ministry on Deendayal Upadhyaya Road at the cost of Rs 300 crore.

"Moily was tipped to be shifted to telecom, but the bigger lobbies are not allowing him to move to the politically significant and monetarily lucrative ministry. Moily on the other hand wants to continue in his present portfolio, as he wants to see the completion of the building in his tenure," said a source.

No change
Krishna was tipped to move into state politics, but high command is understood to have postponed the move for a while and he will continue as external minister. "All the ministers from the state have performed exceedingly well and I don't think there is any reason to change them. I hope the state gets its due share with Muniappa being inducted into the cabinet," said B K Chandrashekar, former education minister.