Congress set for organisational revamp, UPA readies to shuffle its ministers

The All India Congress Committee (AICC) is planning major organisational changes to combat the opposition’s onslaught over several scams. Younger faces are likely to spearhead the government’s counter attack, particularly at the state level.
The UPA leadership is also in the process of reshuffling the Union council of ministers. The new faces in both are likely to be announced between January 14 and January 23.

Highly placed sources close to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and prime minister Manmohan Singh said the two leaders have already had initial consultations with members of the core group comprising Rahul Gandhi, Ahmad Patel and others.

The recently-concluded AICC session also underlined the need to install young teams in states and have younger Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chiefs. The newly-constituted 15-member media team, which includes ministers like Ambika Soni and Ghulam Nabi Azad, points at this line of thinking. Soni’s successful battle with Prasar Bharti CEO BS Lalli indicates her growing prominence in the party.

It is also clear that the party’s youth mascot Rahul Gandhi will confine himself to the organisation for some more time.    
The prime minister may have to find some new faces for the government before the next budget session of Parliament in February 2011. Sonia Gandhi also has to reconstitute the Congress Working Committee (CWC) and induct her new team.
There are indications that a couple of general secretaries, including Janardhan Dwivedi, may join the government.    

Manmohan Singh is already facing problems running the prime minister’s office after shifting Prithviraj Chavan to Maharashtra as chief minister. Since he holds several portfolios, he needs to have the assistance of a minister of state to answer questions on his behalf.  The search for a “new Chavan” has not yielded any result so far. There are already talks of bringing back Suresh Pachauri to fill the vacuum.

Some of the Congress ministers, including surface transport minister Kamal Nath, heavy industries minister Vilasrao Deshmukh,  social justice minister Mukul Wasnik, steel minister Virbhadra Singh and a couple of junior ministers, are already facing the heat over one allegation or the other.

The leakage of the Nira Radia tapes to the media has brought out the tug-of-war between Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and home minister P Chidambaram. Both are senior ministers and were in a position to have access to the Radia tapes. A close scrutiny of the published versions reveals that the leak could have suited both of them politically though there are many who believe that it’s Chidambaram who could have been the bigger beneficiary. The prime minister will have to work hard to bring about a truce.

There is a talk of external affairs minister SM Krishna being given some other key assignment and commerce minister Anand Sharma being shifted to south block.

The demand to take away the food ministry from Sharad Pawar in the wake of his failure to check prices of food items has surfaced again. The PMO is disturbed over the fact that despite average rate of inflation remaining less than six per cent over the past five years, food and vegetable prices rose by 22%. However, in case Pawar is removed from the food ministry, another member of the NCP may have to be accommodated elsewhere.

Similarly, the DMK is pressing for a portfolio in lieu of telecom which was held by A Raja until recently. The inclusion is necessary as assembly polls are due in the state in April-May next year.