Wild card entries
may dominate Cabinet reshuffle
By Deepal
Trevedie
With
Harin Pathak and Ashok Bhatt tendering their resignations, of course
on moral grounds, there is once again a talk of the so-called, and much
needed, reshuffle. Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel has nothing to do
with Harin Pathak since the later was a Union Minister. But state minister
Ashok Bhatt handled health and food and civil supplies - two very important
portfolios. These days, everyday in Gujarat begins with the news of
the reshuffle. And of how Keshubhai Patel is going to change the portfolios
and give prominence to efficiency over loyalty. By the end of the day,
the news turns out to be mere rumours.
Well, there is a need for
a reshuffle but Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel seems to be good at timings.
It would be silly to underestimate his political acumen at
least about correct political timing. His political judgement could
be wrong, but his political timing seems to be perfect.
So who are those who are
getting jitters with the news of a possible ministry reshuffle? Well,
Ashok Bhatt is hopeful that the charges against him would not be proved
and he would come back to the Cabinet. Ashok Bhatt has this fighting
spirit which is commendable. So lAS officers who are glad that he is
gone may actually have to work under him, and soon! There are talks
of a young first time minister of state losing his portfolio for his
sheer non-performance. And there are talks of another minister of state,
a first time minister, who is likely to get a Cabinet rank. No,
it has nothing to do with his performance. It is more to do with his
"loyalty and commitment" to the Chief Minister. Well, one can just
hope that Keshubhai does not get carried away by these loyalty and commitment
characteristics and gives ministers what they deserve.
At present at least that
is not the criteria in the Keshubhai Patel Cabinet. In the coming days
with Gujarat all set to face a miserable drought for the second consecutive
year, water resources department will play an important role. At present,
the department is busy fighting amongst themselves then doing any concrete
work. The minister and the secretary do not agree. The minister and
his deputy minister do not agree. The minister and the Chief Minister
do not agree. And the people suffer.
So if there is a ministry
reshuffle, one wishes that Keshubhai considers performance and gives
important portfolios to those who deserve instead those who simply follow
him blindly calling him "saheb saheb" and keep on giving
wrong advices.
Besides, those ministers
who fear that wings will be clipped, there are some MLAs who feel they
would be rewarded this time. Unfortunately, they are the ones who deserved
to be ministers right from the beginning. At least I.K. Jadeja, who
is a respected Kshatirya leader. Or Purshottam Rupala, who is popular
amongst Kadva Patels. Or Arvind Patel of North Gujarat. But then,
at least I.K Bapu is not one of those who would tell Keshubhai
that it is midnight at 12 noon. He is not the Yes Boss type.
He is not the one who would tell Keshubhai that the BIP government has
handled the drought situation in Saurashtra very well. This time, there
are again talks of Mr Jadeja, Mr Rupala and Mr Patel being inducted
in the Cabinet. Every time there are talks of reshuffle, these names
crop up. But then Keshubhai’s close coterie of Yes Boss tactfully
sidelines them. By now, I am sure, till the day Jadeja is officially
sworn in as a minister, he would not believe that he is one!
Patel
vs Rana: Who’s bigger heavyweight?
Kashiram Rana may not admit
it and Keshubhai Patel may deny it but the fact is that the Union Minister
from Gujarat is not really liked by the Keshubhai Patel group in Gujarat.
It is beyond comprehension as to why would anyone want to cut away Mr
Rana’s base in South Gujarat, especially Surat. But that is exactly
what is happening. Surat is the only municipal corporation in Gujarat
where the BJP has got an absolute majority without any hassles and for
a change Keshubhai cannot take credit for that. It is Kashiram Rana
who has a base there. But it is this very base that is being threatened
now. And the ones threatening are the so-called people of the Keshubhai
Patel group. The 18 municipal corporators of Surat, who are known to
be Rana supporters, are treated in the same fashion as Mahendra Trivedi
or Jaspal Singh are treated in the State Cabinet or as I.K. Jadeja is
treated in the state Assembly. In short, they are being completely sidelined.
The reason is crystal clear. Mr Rana’s rivals do not want his base to
grow in Surat. They in fact would want his base to be completely eroded.
But why would they want this? It is an interesting question. For Kashiram
Rana appears to be such a nice, helpful person and everyone knows that
his ambitions are far less than those of say the unpredictable Narendra
Modi or the sophisticated Jainarayan Vyas or the clever I-am-forever-committed-to-Keshubhai
impressionist Haren Pandya for that matter. It is just that whenever
there are talks of changing Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel, the name
that crops up first is Kashiram Rana. But then, that has been happening
since 1995. Kashiram Rana is harmless and Keshubhai should know
this. Then why are Keshubhai’s supporters all bent on "destroying"
Rana’s political base in Surat? And why is Keshubhai quiet? Too many
questions. But it seems that the Keshubhai Patel group insisted that
Kashiram Rana, who has formerly been the Gujarat BJP president, be sent
to the Parliament so that he does not remain in Gujarat and in Surat
most of the times. Now that Kashiram Rana is in Delhi, they want to
destroy his political base. Dirty politics indeed.
Friends
in political deeds may not be friends indeed
Talking of dirty politics,
nobody knows what happens and why it happens. The dynamics are very
different. Archrivals become best buddies and best friends become desperate
foes. Strange but true. The latest in this category is the Shankarsinh
Vaghela -Vipul Chaudhary relationship. Till recent past, one could not
think of Vipul without Shankarsinh. Shankarsinh Vaghela even gave him
the important home department when he formed his RJP government. They
were forever together and after the Khajuraho rebellion, Vipul was Shankarsinh’s
Man Friday. But not any more. The two are not even on talking terms.
Shankarsinh Vaghela has "disowned" Vipul Chaudhary. No reasons
given. But then that is politics isn’t it? No, reasons necessary. Maybe
politics is all a matter of convenience. Dirty indeed.
