Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy is preparing to carry out a Cabinet reshuffle after the current session of the State Assembly, if sources are to be believed. Interestingly, neither he nor any other responsible person in the Government or the party has discussed the plan so far with State Congress president VM Sudheeran.
Chandy is sure to use the planned reshuffle to get an upper hand for his 'A' group over the rival 'I' group in the party and he is also planning to induct into the Cabinet Assembly Speaker G Karthikeyan, who, according to sources, has already informed the Chief Minister of his wish to resign. Sudheeran says he has no knowledge of this also.
In an indirect admission of the disagreements between him and Chandy and of the lack of coordination between the party and the Government, Sudheeran said on Saturday that neither the Chief Minister nor any other responsible leader had talked to him about a plan for Cabinet reshuffle. "The issue has not come before the party," he said in Kottayam.
On reports on the possibility of a Cabinet reshuffle after the conclusion of the Assembly session on July 17, Sudheeran said it was a prerogative of the Chief Minister. However, he added that nobody in a responsible position had held any discussions about it with him. Chandy had got the nod of the Congress high command for a Cabinet reshuffle long back.
Referring to the speculation that Karthikeyan had already sought the permission of the Chief Minister to resign after the current Assembly session, Sudheeran said no such issue had come before him or the party. "My information about this is only from what I saw in the media. What response can I have in such a situationIJ" asked Sudheeran.
Observers are interpreting Sudheeran's words as a proof of how he is being disregarded by Chandy and his loyalists in important matters related to the Government. "In a sense, Sudheeran is making it clear that the Chief Minister and others are not taking him into confidence on crucial matters. It's a pitiable condition for the State Congress chief," commented a senior journalist.
Neither Chandy nor his rival in the party, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, head of the 'I' faction, was in agreement with party president Sonia Gandhi's decision to appoint Sudheeran, a group neutral leader, as the PCC chief. Both of them had proposed the name of Karthikeyan for the post of the State Congress president but Sonia had rejected that suggestion.
Chandy, who has emerged stronger after the State Congress's relatively bright performance in the lok Sabha polls and the settlement of the issue of the repatriation of 46 Indian nurses from Iraq, is planning to use the Cabinet reshuffle as an occasion for establishing his supremacy and that of his 'A' group in the Government over Chennithala's 'I' group.
In the present party-led UDF Cabinet, important portfolios allocated to the Congress - like Home Affairs, Revenue and Health - are in the hands of Ministers belonging to the 'I' group. Chandy wants to reallocate some of these portfolios by putting his men in charge of them. He also wants to make some changes in the portfolios held by Ministers of some of the minor UDF partners.
Chandy is reportedly planning to take away the Revenue portfolio from 'I' group's Minister Adoor Prakash and give it to his loyalist Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan. Another plan is said to be to make his ardent supporter KC Joseph, presently the Cultural Affairs Minister, the Speaker if Karthikeyan resigns and joins the Cabinet.