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George Fernandes' resignation as defence minister over the Tehelka.com allegations on defence deals has triggered a rush among NDA partners to grab a ministerial slot with Prabhunath Singh (Samata Party) and Devendra Prasad Yadav of the Janata Dal (United) having taken the lead in the matter.
These ministerial aspirants are sparing no effort to attain their cherished objective.
"Everybody knows that Prabhunath Singh has been an occasional critic of the government because he wants to be a minister. His clashes with his own party leadership stems from this fact. His philosophy is that unless you rattle the government at the highest level, you won't become a minister," explained senior BJP leader Jagdish Prasad Mathur.
"It is natural for an member of Parliament to aspire for ministership. But then, it is the prime minister's prerogative to choose his ministers. It is something which cannot be grabbed by any MP," pointed out Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan.
Prabhunath Singh's declaration that he would write to Vajpayee urging him to conduct a probe regarding allegations of corruption against officials in the PMO, including Brajesh Mishra and N K Singh, and Vajpayee's foster son in-law Ranjan Bhattacharya is an attempt to arm-twist the prime minister into giving him a ministerial berth, according to a senior Samata Party functionary.
"Prabhunathji's attack against PMO officials was his personal opinion" and not the party's viewpoint, he pointed out.
Fernandes ruled out the possibility of any Samata Party member writing to Vajpayee on the issue.
However, the spectacle of one section of the Samata Party defending Vajpayee and another attacking him on the issue has set tongues wagging.
However, veteran BJP worker A Ghoshe has a different opinion. "Fernandes is instigating Prabhunath to attack the PMO officials. Fernandes is being eulogised by Vajpayee and his men as the country's most effective defence minister and his stock, despite his resignation, continues to be high. Prabhunath hopes that his ranting will land him a ministerial job. So there is a method behind their madness and it is a common strategy," he said.
The other ministerial aspirant Devendra Prasad Yadav, deputy leader of the JD(U) parliamentary party.
Yadav, who had earlier talked about putting the Vajpayee government on the mat for raising the prices of foodgrains, has caused disquiet in the BJP camp by urging that his party join a joint front being floated by Opposition parties since the Vajpayee government 'has lost much of its sheen following the allegations pertaining to defence deals'. .
Yadav has called for a party meeting to discuss whether it would be 'more beneficial' to join the Jyoti Basu-led People's Front.
"My only purpose in calling the meeting is to explore future strategies. Don't read too much into it," Yadav told rediff.com.
However, Yadav appears to be a 'one wolf as party workers say party chief Sharad Yadav has assured Prime Minister Vajpayee that the JD (U) will stay in the NDA.
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