PM brings Soren back with Coal, Rao gets Labour

On the face of it, Jharkhand and Telangana were the driving forces behind Saturday’s ‘‘mini reshuffle’’ in which PM...

On the face of it, Jharkhand and Telangana were the driving forces behind Saturday’s ‘‘mini reshuffle’’ in which PM Manmohan Singh reinducted JMM leader Shibu Soren in the Cabinet but gave him only the truncated Coal Ministry. Telangana Rashtra Samiti leader Chandrashekhar Rao, who has been without portfolio for six months, was made Labour and Employment Minister. Sis Ram Ola, from whom the Labour portfolio was taken, was compensated with the Mines Ministry.

Soren, however, seemed to have started on a wrong note, failing to mention his name while being sworn in by President Abdul Kalam. While sources said Soren was unhappy with the truncated ministry, he later told reporters: ‘‘I belong to the coal belt and there is no reason why I should be unhappy.’’

Since the Maharashtra election campaign, NCP leader Sharad Pawar has been in constant touch with several of the smaller parties, particularly JMM and TRS, since their leaders were disgruntled with the delay in the reshuffle. Between them, the two account for 10 Lok Sabha MPs and would have added up to two dozen with the NCP.

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Taking back Soren had become a political compulsion with elections due in Jharkhand in February 2005. Soren’s reinduction would ensure a Congress-JMM-RJD-CPM alliance in Jharkhand polls next february. Rao, on the other hand, had expressed displeasure yesterday, skipping a UPA meeting, after being put on hold for six months.

But while the PM justified the reinduction of Soren publicly, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi was absent. The PM, however, took on Pak President Pervez Musharraf’s statement that Sonia should play a pro-active role in helping India and Pakistan sort out the Kashmir and other outstanding issues: ‘‘Definitely yes, she can play an important role.”