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Jaswant Singh likely to take over from Sinha

BS Political Bureau

External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh is likely to be shifted to finance in what is to be the most publicly debated Cabinet reshuffle ever.

Government sources said Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha was likely to be the new external affairs minister.

Meanwhile, former Rural Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu was sworn-in as the new Bharatiya Janata Party president on Monday.

At 6 p.m. on Monday, the National Democratic Alliance council of ministers will see several ministers dropped, several inducted, and the portfolios of several changed.

The first set of meetings to debate the reshuffle was held on June 25 against the backdrop of the Goa meeting, where the BJP leadership had more or less decided that the party structure was in need of young blood because that would deliver votes.

However, party president Jana Krishnamurthy's unexpectedly firm refusal to give up his post and join the government proved a hindrance in taking the reshuffle forward.

Instead of giving up command, Krishnamurthy asserted his position by carrying out a host of organisational changes.

When Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, Information Technology Minister Pramod Mahajan, Jaswant Singh and Defence Minister George Fernandes met on June 25, Krishnamurthy's stand was the first issue they decided should be tackled.

A tentative list of ministers was drawn up for party work at this meeting. Senior leaders were sent to Krishnamurthy to urge him to change his mind and accept a post in the government.

Advani pointed out that sensitivity was crucial because Krishnamurthy believed his leadership was being questioned.

A series of meetings took place on June 29, after the prime minister's return from Lucknow, his constituency. By then Krishnamurthy had been won over and the question of who should head the party was being discussed.

Advani and Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj met on Saturday evening. This meeting was crucial -- the issue was that of bridging the gap between the government and the party.

Questions were raised as to why ministers were not being engaged in party work. A thorough toning up of structures was discussed. The work of several ministers was reviewed at this meeting.

The final lap of meetings took place on Sunday. These discussed the portfolios that new incumbents like Mamata Banerjee should be given as well as the reshuffle of portfolios of some ministers. The exercise went on late into the evening.

The net result of the reshuffle, which seems somewhat smaller than the grand exercise promised by the prime minister, is the unofficial creation of a committee for political management in the NDA, a structure sorely needed but never set up.

The contours of this body are nebulous but its members -- Singh, Mahajan, Vajpayee and Advani, with Fernandes in a supporting role -- have come to represent a decision-making caucus.

The group was active in the last reshuffle and is likely to continue as a kind of political sounding board for administrative changes in the government.

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