Soren's CM dream may put off reshuffle

NEW DELHI: The prospects of an early Cabinet reshuffle are looking somewhat uncertain because of a sudden change of preference on part of JMM chieftain Shibu Soren who now seems to have set his heart on becoming Jharkhand CM.

And while Soren is eying the gaddi of Jharkhand currently occupied by Independent Madhu Koda in what must rank as a fairly unique arrangement, Congress and Samajwadi Party seem to be mulling setting up a coordination committee of sorts to give their freshly forged ties a firmer footing.

Soren, who was keen on getting back his coal portfolio in the Cabinet and was promised as much by the Congress leadership in exchange for his five votes during the tussle in the Lok Sabha on nuclear deal, is now feeling more inclined to being Jharkhand CM.

The urgency for a ministerial expansion may also dim because of SP's decision to give priority to a seat-sharing pact with Congress for LS polls. Sources in the ruling coalition as well as SP said the two parties were discussing the formation of a coordination committee patterned after the one that UPA had formed for doing business with the Left. The matter, according to SP sources, is expected to be discussed on Wednesday between PM Manmohan Singh and SP leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh.

Congress leadership, which continues to protest the suggestion that it offered Cabinet berths to bait the JMM leader just when he had seemed set to sign a deal with the NDA, may not be unhappy with the JMM chief's sudden change of gears.

Early appointment of the JMM leader, who had to step down following an adverse verdict in the murder case of his former PA, will surely undercut the pretence that it had not used ministership as a carrot to woo him back.

But Soren's fresh insistence leaves it with the complex task of getting the incumbent Madhu Koda to step down while ensuring that he along with other Independents doesn't switch sides.

(Courtesy: Timesofindia.com)