Ministers missing; work badly affected
Syed Firdaus Ashraf
The Congress-United Front deadlock has seriously affected work at the Centre as most Union ministers are busy with political parleys. One exception, however, is Union Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram who has been religiously attending office, unmindful of the crisis.
Most ministers have not attended to official work ever since the crisis broke out last week. A couple of others are trying to clear pending files lest they be caught unawares if the Gujral government falls.
Among the ministers contacted by Rediff On The NeT today was Union Law Minister Ramakant Khalap.
His visits to Goa and endless meetings with various party leaders have kept the minister away from office. Khalap has attended office only once since last week, said one of his secretaries.
Being the sole Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party MP, Khalap will be the worst-affected minister in case the government falls. His chances of becoming a minister again seem remote, considering his party's strength -- or, rather, lack of it.
Equally busy is Samajwadi Party leader and Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, a top contender for the prime ministership. ''Though the minister comes to office every day, he has never been present for more than 15 minutes on each occasion,'' confided a member of his personal staff.
Yadav's desire for the top job has seen him crystallising his strategy in tandem with senior Congress leaders. ''His scheduled has been upset by the political developments, and he had to cancel a lot of prior appointments,'' one secretary said.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazagham, which is in the eye of the storm, however, has been keeping its cool. DMK leader and Industry Minister Murasoli Maran is busy clearing all pending files. Like Yadav, he, too, had to cancel many prior appointments.
Sources in the industry ministry told Rediff On The NeT that, since the crisis broke out, no minister has been able to concentrate on his work. ''Not one is willing to give appointments.''
Unlike Maran, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas T R Baalu has visited Madras at least thrice last week, to keep DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi posted about the political developments.
The prevailing uncertainty affected Communist Party of India leader and Union Agriculture Minister Chaturanan Mishra, too. But only for a while.
Political meetings kept him busy till the United Front core committee decided not to drop the DMK from the ministry. Once the tough stand was taken, Mishra has been attending office regularly. ''However, he is not promising any appointments because of the uncertainty,'' said sources in the agriculture ministry.
While most ministers waddled in political debates, senior Tamil Maanila Congress leader Chidambaram was locked in financial jousts -- the sinking rupee and falling markets. ''The minister has been attending office regularly, walking in at 0900 hours on all days, except when he was out of station on official work,'' sources in the finance ministry said.
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