With Pranab Mukherjee emerging as a strong contender for the post of the President and Sonia Gandhi inclined to accept him with a strong support from the Prime Minister too, the commercial capital of India – Mumbai – is worried about the new Finance Minister.
But one must remember that Sonia Gandhi is not elevating Pranab Mukherjee as President to make life easy for Dr Manmohan Singh. His desire to keep the finance portfolio with himself may be allowed or not by Sonia Gandhi – no one knows.
The Prime Minister may be pitching to keep the finance portfolio with himself to stem the economic rot set in during the past three years, he conveyed to Sonia loyalist and the bridge between the government and the party, sourcesw say.
Since Pranab Mukherjee is the senior-most person and has been heading almost all Groups of Ministers and e-GoMs and deciding all policies, the PM was unable to play an active role.
It is said that bringing P Chidambaram back into the Finance Ministry from Home will cause a new problems. Chidambaram may undo what Mukherjee did and in his zeal , he may be unstoppable.
Dr C Rangarajan, former Reserve Bank governor and now chairperson of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, is playing a key role. But he is too old to bear the brunt of administrative work in North block.
Deputy chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia may be Manmohan Singh’s Man-Friday. But no way. The Sonia’s kitchen cabinet doesn’t like him and he is not a member of the Parliament either. Though there are two vacancies pending in the nominated category. But Dr Montek Singh is unlikely to make it.
There are reports that Commerce and industries minister Anand Sharma is widely accepted in government and the party. He is close to 10 Janpath and Tughlaq Lane as well. A search for a new finance minister is already on.
