Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s inability to accommodate senior leader Shivraj Patil in the cabinet as minister of external affairs cost him the Rajya Sabha seat.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s inability to accommodate senior leader Shivraj Patil in the cabinet as minister of external affairs cost him the Rajya Sabha seat.
Neither Singh nor Gandhi could give the commitment of top five portfolios to shift Patil from his current governor post to cabinet minister.
The state and Centre after taking into considerations various political compulsions settled for Hussain Dalwai, a low-profile candidate from the minorities.
In the backdrop of the power tussle unleashed in the capital, there was a move to bring Shivraj Patil who is Indira-Rajiv-Sonia loyalist. However, highly placed sources revealed to DNA, “The party was ready to offer him a Rajya Sabha seat and cabinet berth. But the problem to making way for him amongst the top five cabinet berths.”
The question of disturbing finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, home minister P Chidambaram, defence minister AK Anthony was categorically ruled out. There was some thinking on whether the party could consider Shivraj Patil as the external affairs minister replacing the controversial SM Krishna.
“Offering any other portfolio down the cabinet rank would tantamount to undermining Shivraj’s stature in terms of seniority and experience. So top leaders felt he could be considered for other constitutional jobs,” a senior Congress functionary said.
Insiders in the party revealed, “When Prithviraj Chavan took the reins of state government following resignation of Ashok Chavan in the Adarsh housing scam in December 2010, the party was seriously considering Dalwai for the Rajya Sabha seat to use his MLC seat for Chavan. But they were wary that the move would invite criticism as Dalwai belongs to minorities.”
However, the top leadership in the state resorted to a mindless plan where Dutt relinquished the seat. Having decided to retain Manikrao Thakre as the state Congress chief and finding things getting difficult with Shivraj, they settled on Dalwai as the best bet for the lone Rajya Sabha seat.
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