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Congress, RJD clinch deal on portfolios, to set up panel

The Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal have clinched an agreement on portfolios and decided to set up an 11-member coordination committee to steer the Rabri Devi coalition government.

The committee, headed by former Bihar chief minister Laloo Prasad Yadav, would have four members from the Congress, three from the RJD, one each from the Bahujan Samaj Party, Maoist Coordination Committee, Communist Party of India-Marxist and Krantikari Communist Party.

A decision to this effect had been taken after Yadav had a lengthy meeting with senior Congress leaders including Dr Manmohan Singh, Madhavrao Scindia, Mohsina Kidwai and Ajit Jogi.

Disclosing this to the media, Jogi said it has also decided to set up a cabinet sub-committee under the chief minister to monitor appointments and transfers.

The committee will include the state finance minister, Congress legislative party leader Furkan Ansari and the minister of the department concerned.

Jogi maintained that the distribution of portfolios is the prerogative of the chief minister and that the portfolio of each minister would be announced in a day or two.

About the Congress stand on the creation of separate Jharkhand state, Jogi said the party was committed to the formation of the states of Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Uttarakhand.

The Madhya Pradesh government has already promulgated an ordinance for the creation of the Chattisgarh state.

The Rabri Devi government would take a decision soon on the creation of the Jharkhand state, Jogi said, adding the Congress would support any move of the Uttar Pradesh government to create Uttarakhand.

The Congress spokesperson charged the Bharatiya Janata Party with indulging in doublespeak and betraying the people of these areas.

Though it secured votes on the slogan of creation of separate states, the party has failed to taken any concrete step in this direction, he said.

UNI

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