Their eyes were set on the next Lok Sabha polls but Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and his deputy, L K Advani, didn’t let their reformist vision waver in undertaking a major reshuffle in the council of ministers today. And they also sent out a strong message that there was a premium on performance and accountability. Working in tandem, Vajpayee and Advani sent off eight ministers, including controversial Pramod Mahajan, and brought in Arun Jaitley, C P Thakur and six others. But, perhaps, the most important highlight of the day was Arun Shourie’s swelling portfolio. Contrary to speculation that he was likely to be divested of Disinvestment, he not only retained the ministry but also got the troubled Telecom and IT. Interestingly, for the first time in the 10 ministerial reshuffles carried out by Vajpayee till date, the nucleus of activity was the Prithviraj Road residence of Advani, rather than 7, Race Course Road of Vajpayee. It was Advani who summoned party leaders and gave them orders. Even RSS joint general secretary Madan Dass Devi, who coordinates with the BJP, was out of the picture. And at the end of the day, Advani wrested from Vajpayee the Personnel ministry, which exercises administrative control over the CBI and is pivotal for bureaucratic postings. Those who were shown the door, besides Mahajan, were Law Minister K Jana Krishnamurthi, Shipping Minister V P Goel, Coal and Mines Minister Uma Bharati and Ministers of State Vasundhara Raje, Raman Singh, Rita Verma and Nikhil Choudhary. Inducted into government were Sangh Priya Gautam, Dileep Gandhi, Dilip Singh Judeo, Bhavna Chikhalia and Jaskaur Meena. THE NEW PACK THE OUTSIDERS • Arun Jaitley: It’s comeback time. Gets back Law and rewarded with Commerce and Industry. • C P Thakur: So what if it’s not Health again for the doctor. Bounces back to nurse North East affairs and Small Scale Industries. • Arun Shourie: The government’s counting on him. Gets key portfolios of Communications and IT in addition to Disinvestment. • Sushma Swaraj: She moves to Health and Parliamentary Affairs. • Ravi Shankar Prasad: As MoS, gets independent charge of I&B though the ministry itself has been downgraded. • New entrants: Chhatrapal Singh, Dilip Singh Judeo, Dilip Gandhi, Bhavnaben Chikalia, Jas Kaur Meena (all MoS) and Sanghpriya Gautam (MoS with independent charge). • Pramod Mahajan: It’s party time or is it? As a general secretary, doesn’t think the new job’s a demotion. • Jana Krishnamurthy: Refused to surrender Law for any other portfolio. So stepped down. His future is now uncertain. • Uma Bharati: Is headed for Madhya Pradesh; will be projected for CM’s job. • Vasundhara Raje: To concentrate on Rajasthan as party chief . • Also out: Ved Prakash Goyal, Raman Singh, Nikhil Choudhary and Rita Verma. Aware that Krishnamurthi’s exit may not go down well with the cadre, Vajpayee underlined while talking to journalists after the swearing-in ceremony: ‘‘I would like to clarify that we tried to give to Shri Jana Krishnamurthi portfolios other than Law but he declined and instead sent in his resignation.’’ Mahajan’s shift to the party as general secretary tomorrow opens new avenues for both consolidation and dissension. His drive and resourcefulness can be of immense value to the party but the crucial issue would be his equation with party president M Venkaiah Naidu. Bharati is likely to be named convenor of the Madhya Pradesh election campaign committee. Vasundhara and Raman Singh, presidents of the Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh units, respectively, will devote themselves full-time to party work. Arun Jaitley, like the other Arun, also gets three major portfolios — law, commerce and industry. Thakur has been given North-eastern Affairs, held by Shourie, besides Small-scale Industries. Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj moves to Parliamentary Affairs, Health and Family Welfare. Shatrughan Sinha, who didn’t quite distinguish himself in his handling of health, gets shipping, Karia Munda coal, Ravi Shankar Prasad independent charge of information and broadcasting and Ramesh Bais independent charge of mines. Vajpayee did not rule out another reshuffle for the benefit of the allies. He said, ‘‘We have not touched the allies today. We will consider the changes after discussions with them.’’ Regarding Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, he said she too was a member of the NDA. His explanation for Mahajan’s ouster was: ‘‘As Arun Jaitley was being brought in from the organisation, we thought Mahajan should be brought to the party for strengthening it. We needed Jaitley for managing the Law Ministry. Mahajan had expressed his wish to move out of the Government and work for the party.’’ Vajpayee said the changes effected in the BJP and the Government are aimed at strengthening the party, increasing its popularity and to face the challenges ahead. JUST FOR THE RECORD • Pramod Mahajan: ‘‘It’s not a demotion. Whenever the need arises, some in the government have to go for party work’’ • Arun Jaitley: ‘‘It (stint as party general secretary) was a new experience for me. But in a political system, nobody argues with the leadership as to which responsibility should be given’’ • LK Advani: ‘‘To ensure that the party did not weaken in the absence of Jaitley, Pramod Mahajan’s name came up for a party post’’ • Venkaiah Naidu: ‘‘For the last two days, the Prime Minister and Deputy PM talked to me on organisational and government matters. It was decided to take Arun Jaitley into government. These changes will have an electrifying effect on the party’’
