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Vayalar Ravi dismisses Cabinet reshuffle report | Union Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar
Ravi on Tuesday rubbished media reports that he along with several other senior
UPA ministers has written to Congress President Sonia Gandhi willing to be relieved
of their portfolios. "I have never written any letter. Party made me the minister.
At the meanwhile, whenever I am there, whenever I do the ministerial work, I have
been entrusted with the party work also occasionally," said Ravi . "Last year
also, I have been sent to some states, I have been sent to different states many
times. This time, I have been asked to look after the Andhra affairs because Ghulam
Nabi could not go. So, I had to do some work," he added. Several senior ministers
of the Manmohan Singh-led UPA-II Cabinet have reportedly written to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, saying that they would like to be relieved of their portfolios and would like to work for the party. Two television channels -- Times Now and CNN-IBN
-- have quoted sources, as saying that the ministers include Rural Development
Minister Jairam Ramesh, Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Law
and Justice and Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and Overseas Indian
Affairs Minister Vyalar Ravi. The news channels are saying that there are more
ministers ready to work for the party and there is also view that Congress general
secretary Rahul Gandhi may be asked to take on more responsibilities than at present.
Though there is no confirmation from the Congress Party about a reshuffle or a
reorganisation being in the offing, there is a possibility of a Cabinet reshuffle
taking place after the budget session of parliament concludes in the third week
of May. Ramesh and Khurshid are seen as being important for fine-tuning the Congress's
election strategy ahead of the 2014 general elections. In 2004, Ramesh's aam aadmi
slogan struck an emotional cord with the electorate and helped the UPA in defeating
the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance. Several leaders have
said that a more people friendly schemes are needed to be announced if the party
wants to return to power in 2014. The move to strengthen the party may coincide
with the UPA-II completing three years in power on May 22. Senior leaders could
be replaced by younger Members of Parliament in the Union Cabinet. The plan to
revive the Congress has been taken following the initial report of the A.K. Antony
Committee, which looked into reasons for the party's extremely poor show in the
recent Assembly elections in five states. The final report, which will be submitted
to Sonia Gandhi by end of April, points out that a weak organisation was the main
reason behind the party's rout. Sonia Gandhi had set up the Antony Committee with
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde
as the two other members following the Assembly elections rout, particularly to
study the Congress's show in Uttar Pradesh where Amethi MP and General Secretary
Rahul Gandhi had worked very hard and almost made it a prestige issue. Sonia Gandhi
is also peeved over the conduct of Congress lawmakers from the Telangana region
of Andhra Pradesh, who have defied the party leadership and disrupted proceedings
in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. At the Congress Core Committee meeting where the
decision to suspend eight Congress Members of Parliament from Telangana was taken,
there was a view that a wrong signal would go out if the if party was not able
to control its own lawmakers in Parliament. Several crucial states elections are
scheduled in the next year and the party is trying to revive its fortunes. There
is a major leadership crisis in Andhra Pradesh where the party did exceedingly
well during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. The Congress Government of K Kiran Kumar
Reddy is facing a tough challenge from YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy, who
is using the name of his father and former Andhra chief minister late Y.S. Rajashekhar
Reddy to establish his political authority. The plan to revive the party by bringing
in senior ministers back into the party is a throwback to the K Kamaraj Plan of
the 1960s. Under the Kamaraj Plan, several senior Congress leaders resigned form
their posts and went back to the party to revitalise it. Several senior leaders
like Lal Bahadur Shastri, Jagjivan Ram, Morarji Desai and S.K. Patil resigned
and started working for the party.
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