Atal’s swearing in today
From T.V. Lakshminarayan
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Oct 12 — The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, was all set to finalise the list of his Council of Ministers and submit it to the President, Mr K.R.Narayanan, tonight.

The finalisation of the list became smoother with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) today formally deciding to join the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government.

On the eve of the official swearing-in ceremony of Mr Vajpayee and his Council of Ministers, which will be a two-tiered one, it appeared that the Prime Minister would be able to stick to his stand of not having a "big size" Cabinet as the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) have decided to lend outside support to the Government.

Though there was no official confirmation from the INLD about their proposed stand, sources close to the party confided that as of this evening their plans were not to join the government.

The absence of the TDP, which has 29 members, and the INLD, which has five members would help the Prime Minister contain the size of his Council of Ministers. The MDMK chief, Mr Vaiko’s decision not to join the Cabinet would also mean that the slot of senior minister would become available for the Prime Minister.

The Union Council of Ministers is likely to be a carbon copy of the previous Cabinet with prominent ministers including Union Home Minister, Mr L.K.Advani, External Affairs Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, Information and Broadcasting Minister, Mr Pramod Mahajan, Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, and Human Resource Development Minister, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, retaining their portfolios.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) is likely to get one berth and this would in all probability be bagged by one of its Rajya Sabha members, Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa or Mr Baldev Singh Bhunder.

While Mr George Fernandes’ inclusion is a near certainty, the Prime Minister would have a difficult time in selecting other ministers from the Janata Dal (United). Party President, Mr Sharad Yadav, Commerce Minister, Mr Ramakrishna Hegde and former Railway Ministers, Mr Nitish Kumar and Mr Ramvilas Paswan are all strong contenders.

There were indications that former Railway Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar, who had resigned in the wake of the Gaisal rail accident, would opt out.

In this regard, significance is being attached to a meeting of the JD(U) leaders, Mr George Fernandes and, Mr Sharad Yadav, with the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K.Advani.

Also, with the Trinamool Congress showing interest in the Railway Ministry— and in all likelihood party President, Ms Mamata Banerjee, would fill the slot— the former Railway Ministers would have to be accommodated in other ministries. Former Union Minister, Mr Ajit Panja, was another name being considered for the Cabinet from the Trinamool Congress.

The Prime Minister, who is expected to give the final list of his Council of Ministers, to the President tonight was till the last minute awaiting word from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). With the NCP’s talks with the Congress on forming a coalition government in Maharashtra failing, the BJP expected the party to approach the Shiv Sena-BJP combine. In the event of the NCP lending outside support to the Maharashtra Government, the party could demand a stake at the Centre. With former Lok Sabha Speaker, Mr P.A.Sangma, likely to be the NCP candidate, the Prime Minister would have to keep an important portfolio vacant.

A former Labour Minister, sources said in the event of Mr Sangma joining the Cabinet, he could be offered the proposed ministry on employment.

The BJP list, but for the aspirants from Delhi, is likely to be easy for the Prime Minister. From Delhi, Mr Vajpayee would have to choose between Mr Madan Lal Khurana, Mr Sahib Singh Verma, Mr Jagmohan, Mr Vijay Kumar Malhotra and Mr Vijay Goel.

Other names doing the round from the BJP include, Mr Sikander Bakht, Mr Ananth Kumar, Mr P.R.Kumaramangalam, Mr Sunderlal Patwa, Mr Rajnath Singh, Mr O.Rajagopal, Mr Shanta Kumar , Mr Bangaru Laxman, and Mr Shahnawaz Hussain, the only Muslim MP from the party.

Mr Suresh Prabhu and Mr Manohar Joshi of the Shiv Sena are also all set to find a place in the Union Cabinet.

Ms Maneka Gandhi, who won from Pilibhit as an Independent candidate, and Ms Uma Bharti are likely to be the women members. In a bid to give larger representation to the women members, Mr Vajpayee could also consider the inclusion of either Ms Bhavaben Chikhalia, Ms Jaywantiben Mehta and Ms Sumitra Mahajan.

Mr Murasoli Maran and Mr T.Balu would in all probability be the representatives of the DMK in the Union Cabinet.

There was further consolation for the Prime Minister today with the DMK President and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Mr M.Karunanidhi, announcing that his party would not put forward any conditions on the number of ministers it would like to have or for that matter the portfolios.

The announcement brought cheer to the BJP camp, which had apprehensions that the DMK may stake claim to the important Finance portfolio, which is currently held by Mr Yashwant Sinha.

Mr Karunanidhi clarified that his party had not sought the Finance portfolio as reported in a section of the Press and quipped that his party would rather demand finances for the state rather than the Ministry.

A sprinkling of members from parties with one or two seats is also being considered. This includes the MGRADMK, the Himachal Vikas Party, the Loktantrik Congress Party, Sikkim Democratic Front, and the Manipur Socialist Congress Party.