Those who were overlooked were obviously bitter but many among those who made it were also grumbling. Ramakrishna Hegde of the Janata Dal (U) may be sulking for being punished for thrusting a suicidal alliance on the BJP in Karnataka but Sukhdev Singh Dhinda of the Akali Dal, who also could not make it, was distinctly unlucky. He had the appointment letter from the PM for being inducted as Agriculture Minister but last-minute internal bickerings prevented him from going to Rashtrapati Bhawan.

RSS favourite Ananth Kumar, who lost the plum Civil Aviation portfolio and got Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs was not in a mood to even accept felicitations from his friends and well-wishers. He, instead, headed for his mentor's house and later went to a friend's placeto shed tears. He was learnt to have been told politely that he should thank his stars for being included in the government as his Karnataka colleague, V Dhananjay Kumar, who had a Cabinet rank earlier, had been demoted as Minister of State.

Sahib Singh Verma was waving a personal letter written by the Prime Minister months ago, saying he would utilise his services in the Government when he had to quit as Chief Minister of Delhi. He was finally told curtly that the letter was valid only for the 12th Lok Sabha. His rival in the Delhi BJP, Madanlal Khurana, was apparently already drafting another letter against the RSS. With the induction of Arun Jaitley in the Government from Delhi, the hopes of Vijay Kumar Malhotra have been dashed. The giant killer -- as he is now called after defeating Manmohan Singh -- looked crestfallen. Jaitley is being groomed for the next generation of party leaders and Malhotra does not fit into their scheme of things.

Strangely, Sahib Singh Verma, Khurana and Malhotra were ruingtheir bad luck together together at Malhotra's residence after the swearing-in-ceremony. Ajit Panja has reason to complain for being demoted. He was holding independent charge in the Congress government. Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee was persuaded to tell him that for the moment nothing more could come his way.

Murli Manohar Joshi is unhappy over being deprived of Youth, Sports and Culture. Even in the Human Resources Development Ministry, he will be assisted by Sumitra Mahajan. T R Balu was Petroleum Minister in the United Front Government but got Environment and Forests this time. Manohar Joshi of the Shiv Sena has been eyeing Commerce but now has to be content with Heavy Industry and Public Enterprises.