In MEA, Khanna sees Bollywood, Shatru not at sea

JANA KRISHNAMURTHI: Former Law minister K. Jana Krishnamurthi said on Thursday that it was not correct to say he had insisted on retaining t...

JANA KRISHNAMURTHI: Former Law minister K. Jana Krishnamurthi said on Thursday that it was not correct to say he had insisted on retaining the Law Ministry before resigning. However, he would not disclose why he did not accept the PM’s offer of some other portfolio. ‘‘It is not correct to say I wanted only the Law Ministry. I never made a demand for it nor did the PM ask me why I insisted on Law. He was gracious enough to offer me one or two other ministries,” he said. ‘‘I declined it but not because I wanted to retain Law. I did not accept the offer for reasons best known to him and me and it is the same reason which made me decline his invitation to join the Cabinet last June,’’ he added.

C.P. THAKUR: Making a come back to the Union Cabinet after a gap of six months, C.P. Thakur, Minister for North-East and Small Scale Industries, said on Thursday that justice has been done to him though he feels handling his old Health ministry would have been an easier job. ‘‘Yes, that’s true,’’ Thakur said. Asked if he wanted Health, he said, ‘‘it really does not matter’’. He said he would attempt to tackle insurgency in the North-East by focussing on development.

Minor MoS reshuffle

NEW DELHI: In a minor reshuffle of portfolios at the level of MoS, Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee on Thursday gave additional charge of Parliamentary Affairs to O. Rajgopal besides Defence. Dr Vallabhbhai Kathiria, who was given Health and Family Welfare, has been moved to HRD and Pon Radhakrishnan to Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation from Youth Affairs and Sports, according to a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique. (PTI)

SHATRUGHAN SINHA: Dismissing suggestions that he was ‘‘removed’’ from the Health Ministry, new Shipping Minister Shatrughan Sinha today said he has been entrusted with greater responsibility. ‘‘It is improper and inappropriate to state that I was removed from the Health Ministry. The new portfolio given by Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee places greater responsibility on my shoulders,’’ he said. Describing himself as a ‘‘baby minister’’, the cinestar-turned-politician asserted that like a disciplined soldier, he would carry out his new responsibility with ‘‘complete dedication, commitment and sincere efforts’’. Stating that everything under the sun including highposts was temporary, he said ‘‘no one is indispensable in politics and government …. and the show must go on’’.

VINOD KHANNA: Giving a Bollywood touch, new Minister of State for External Affairs Vinod Khanna said on Thursday the film industry has a role to play in bringing India and Pakistan closer. A second-time Lok Sabha MP from Gurdaspur in Punjab, Khanna said: ‘‘I will probably make use of my big fan following in Pakistan’’. Khanna, who was born in Peshawar, indicated he was not overawed by the complexities involved with his new assignment. ‘‘It is not that I am not familiar with external affairs’’. ‘‘I have visited Pakistan before. If I get an opportunity to do so again, I will go,’’ he said. Khanna, who was shifted from the Tourism Ministry, said ‘‘I am happy with the change.’’