Cabinet reshuffle on cards, PM meets Congress brass

Last weekend saw hectic parleys between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the top leadership of the Congress party over a Cabinet reshuffle and indications are the government is in for a major shake-up.

On Saturday, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister met in the afternoon, and on Sunday senior office-bearers of the party directly associated with the Congress president?s office called on the PM.

Sources close to the developments said this was the first of many such parleys to come between the Prime Minister and the Congress leadership, but that the ?general contours of a major shake-up had been agreed upon.?

Sources say that those who are likely to be moved from their present positions, include environment minister Jairam Ramesh, rural development minister CP Joshi, and roads and highways minister Kamal Nath. ?It is no secret that Ramesh and the PMO have an uneasy relationship, but this time round there have been lots of complaints from allies of the government like the NCP?s Sharad Pawar and the DMK as well. While the Congress likes to keep allies on tenterhooks, Ramesh?s moves in the last few months have exceeded that level,? said a top source.

Rural development minister CP Joshi was supposedly handpicked by AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi to head the ministry implementing the UPA?s flagship programme, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). Apart from adding the Mahatma?s name to the programme, Joshi has been busy playing cricket politics at the Rajasthan Cricket Association as its president.

His frequent run-ins with members of the NREGA council have made headlines but so have all the problems with the implementation of the scheme. He could be looking at a relocation.

Kamal Nath and deputy chairman of the planning commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia?s equations are bad, to say the least. But it is also the slow progress on highways that is worrying the PMO.

?The Prime Minister had made sure that TR Baalu was not repeated as highways minister because of the slow progress in the ministry, but the situation has barely improved,? said the source. Health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad too may be moved around, but in his case it may be to the party as a senior office-bearer.

?The thing to remember is that these are just initial meetings, things can change. The fact that there is going to be a parallel reshuffle in the Congress? organisational structure makes it all the more complicated,? said the source.