Sena alleges discrimination, claims Cabinet berth

Sena alleges discrimination, claims Cabinet berth
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

NEW DELHI, AUG 29: When Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee undertakes expansion of his council of ministers, he is likely to find it difficult to accommodate the claims of various alliance partners. One of the constituents, the Shiv Sena, today went public demanding an additional berth in the Union Cabinet. The portfolio preferred was Finance.

In an interview to news programme Rozana, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray said today his party deserved an additional berth in the proposed expansion of the Union Council of Ministers. He demanded that Minister of State for Finance Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil be elevated to Cabinet rank. Thackeray claimed that a Cabinet post had been vacant since the resignation of Ram Jethmalani.

He alleged that Shiv Sena ministers were being discriminated against and cited the case of Heavy Industry Minister Manohar Joshi. He said Joshi should have been given charge of disinvestment, but it instead went to Arun Jaitley and later to Arun Shourie.

The Shiv Sena chief also criticised Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha for not allowing Vikhe-Patil to function properly. ``Files sent by Vikhe-Patil are not cleared by the senior minister. Despite the fact that Vikhe-Patil has a good understanding of financial matters, he has not been given powers to take important decisions,'' he alleged.