HVK Archives: Cabinet Capers
Cabinet Capers - India Today
Posted By Krishnakant Udavant (kkant@bom2.vsnl.net.in)
7 July 1997
Title: Cabinet Capers
Author:
Publication: India Today
Date: July 7, 1997
A strange affliction seems to have gripped Chief Minister J. H. Patel's
jumbo-sized, 45-member Cabinet. It's not just the scandals dogging his
ministers but, seriously, the manner in which they are getting absolved of
charges. Recently, Minister for Municipal Administration Merajuddin Patel
was accused of attempting to bribe a woman journalist. The issue was taken
up by the Reporters' Guild and the newspaper concerned. But the chief
minister resisted pressure to drop him saying "the motive for bribery is
unclear". Last week, Higher Education Minister B. Somashekhar, charged with
"copying" in a law (LLB) exam in the late '70s, was absolved by the
principal secretary of his own department. Not only had the professor who
caught him red-handed testified against him, but an earlier inquiry had
confirmed the charges. It's perhaps this dilemma - of dropping ministers
like Merajuddin, a minority representative, and Somashekhar, a backward
class member - which is preventing the chief minister from restructuring
his cabinet. But he will soon have to make up his mind before more of his
colleagues get bogged down by scandals.
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