Congress upset with Gurudas Kamat's antics
Party sources said that the Mumbai MP had been elevated and that his new responsibilities also marked an opportunity for the minister to do a lot for Mumbai.
By TNN | Updated:
NEW DELHI: Maharashtra leader Gurudas Kamat made adramatic exit from Delhi on Tuesday, ending up creating more news than the swearing-in that he avoided. While the other sulkers – corporate affairs minister Veerappa Moily and MoS Srikant Jena – complained and moved on, Kamat is believed to have earned the displeasure of the Congress leadership. MoS Kamat rejected the drinking water and sanitation portfolio and wrote to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, asking to be relieved of his ministerial role and to be allowed to be an "active party worker".
The portfolio, hived off the ministry of rural development, must have come as a disappointment because of the speculation that the Lok Sabha member from Mumbai north-west was expected to be assigned independent charge of either civil aviation or power: both considered to be weightier portfolios from what he finally landed. Sources said he had indeed protested against his fresh assignment.
Although he flew out to Mumbai to stay away from the swearing-in, the MoS denied that he was disappointed over the portfolio and affirmed his "highest regard" for the Congress chief and the PM. In his statement to media, Kamat insisted that his desire to quit the government had nothing to do with the choice of his portfolio. "There is no question of any disappointment over portfolio, which is itself an important one, with concerns related to the requirements of a large section of the people. The reasons are totally personal," Kamat said.
Party sources said that the Mumbai MP had been elevated and that his new responsibilities also marked an opportunity for the minister to do a lot for Mumbai. Drinking water and sanitation were carved out into a separate portfolio in view of the recognition that it marks a big challenge, they said. "We thought that he with his knowledge of the city's problems and his enhanced political stature, would seize the opportunity to make a difference. It is regretful that he has not appreciated this," said a Congress source.
The portfolio, hived off the ministry of rural development, must have come as a disappointment because of the speculation that the Lok Sabha member from Mumbai north-west was expected to be assigned independent charge of either civil aviation or power: both considered to be weightier portfolios from what he finally landed. Sources said he had indeed protested against his fresh assignment.
Although he flew out to Mumbai to stay away from the swearing-in, the MoS denied that he was disappointed over the portfolio and affirmed his "highest regard" for the Congress chief and the PM. In his statement to media, Kamat insisted that his desire to quit the government had nothing to do with the choice of his portfolio. "There is no question of any disappointment over portfolio, which is itself an important one, with concerns related to the requirements of a large section of the people. The reasons are totally personal," Kamat said.
Party sources said that the Mumbai MP had been elevated and that his new responsibilities also marked an opportunity for the minister to do a lot for Mumbai. Drinking water and sanitation were carved out into a separate portfolio in view of the recognition that it marks a big challenge, they said. "We thought that he with his knowledge of the city's problems and his enhanced political stature, would seize the opportunity to make a difference. It is regretful that he has not appreciated this," said a Congress source.
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