For Manmohan and Sonia, Saturday evening is time to talk business, politics

After a month of speculation on how the ‘‘dual power structure’’ would affect the new government, the work division between Singh and Sonia is getting clearer: she takes political decisions, like the party’s Rajya Sabha nominations—she is expected to announce the AICC’s new office-bearers very soon.

Singh, at present, concentrates on the economy and the budgetary exercise and toning up of the administration.

The Saturday evening meeting is the third ‘‘coordinatory mechanism,’’ the other two: the National Advisory Council (NAC) announced this week, meant to monitor progress on the CMP, and the UPA’s Coordination Committee that brings all the allies together. Both are headed by Sonia.

The NAC will meet once in three months, the committee is expected to meet once a month.

There was apprehension that the NAC could become a Super PMO—Sonia was given Cabinet status, and this ensured she would have a Secretariat, which would include a Secretary, and two Joint Secretaries, and would function from 2, Motilal Nehru Marg.

But given the NAC’s composition—academics, environmentalists and activists—it appears more as an ‘‘advisory body’’ which will suggest ways to accelerate the CMP’s implementation.

The NAC will have no executive powers nor will its members take salaries. Says member Jairam Ramesh: ‘‘The idea is to broadbase the constituency for the CMP and rope in different sections of society to become stakeholders in the CMP. By including people eminent in their own field, we will create a pressure point on the government to take the CMP seriously.’’

NAC members will meet with various Ministers and Secretaries, who will be called in to their meetings from time to time. But the recommendations will be passed on by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi directly to the PM.

Meanwhile, the UPA coordination committee—which first met last week at 7, Race Course Road—is more political in nature. It is made up of leaders of all allied parties. Last week’s meeting was attended by the PM and several other ministers like Arjun Singh, Pranab Mukherjee and Ghulam Nabi Azad. It is not clear if these Ministers will attend all meetings or were invited only to the first one. Congress leaders Ambika Soni and Ahmed Patel also attended the meeting.

P Chidambaram, a special invitee, sought from the UPA members inputs for the Budget. It is the Coordination Committee which will address political questions like the creation of a separate state of Telengana or the tricky issue of sharing water between the states.