NEW DELHI, May 1: The prodigal Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) quartet, headed by P Chidambaram, formally rejoined the Council of Ministers today, signalling thereby that the United Front Government is back in business.

The ``missing'' TMC ministers, P Chidambaram, M Arunachalam (both cabinet ministers), D Athithan and SR Balasubramoniyan (ministers of state) were sworn in along with another colleague from Janata Dal, Maqbool Dar, at a brief ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan this evening. Dar was away on Haj when the Gujral Government took the oath of office.

There was one new face among the old ones, S Jaipal Reddy, veteran Janata Dal parliamentarian and long time spokesperson for the party. He was inducted into the Union Cabinet amidst a flurry of congratulations from the assembled guests including former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao who made a show of blessing to his fellow Andhraite and old friend.

Reddy will head the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, relieving CM Ibrahim of one of his two portfolios. Ibrahim will now only look after Civil Aviation.

Chidambaram will resume charge of the Finance Ministry, a portfolio Prime Minister I K Gujral had kept for him through the 12-day long crisis when the TMC refused to participate in the Government. The others will also get back their old ministries.

A beaming Chidambaram told correspondents after the ceremony that he did not forsee any problem in getting the budget passed. In contrast to the smiles on the faces of his partymen, TMC president GK Moopanar chewed grimly on his paan throughout the swearing in, pausing only to explain that he had decided to rejoin the Government to bring the stability it needed at this point. He described his differences with the DMK as ``a forgotten chapter''.

Prime Minister I K Gujral parried questions from correspondents on the Laloo Yadav issue, remarking, ``Who am I to decide ?''

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.