Top Congress ministers 'want to quit and work for party'

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Several senior ministers of the Manmohan Singh-led UPA-II Cabinet have reportedly written to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, saying that they would like to be relieved of their portfolios and would like to work for the party.

Two television channels quoted sources, as saying that the ministers include Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh, Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Law and Justice and Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi.

The news channels are saying that there are more ministers ready to work for the party and there is also view that Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi may be asked to take on more responsibilities than at present.

Though there is no confirmation from the Congress Party about a reshuffle or a reorganisation being in the offing, there is a possibility of a Cabinet reshuffle taking place after the budget session of parliament concludes in the third week of May.

Ramesh and Khurshid are seen as being important for fine-tuning the Congress's election strategy ahead of the 2014 general elections.

In 2004, Ramesh's aam aadmi slogan struck an emotional cord with the electorate and helped the UPA in defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance.

Several leaders have said that a more people friendly schemes are needed to be announced if the party wants to return to power in 2014.

The move to strengthen the party may coincide with the UPA-II completing three years in power on May 22.

Senior leaders could be replaced by younger Members of Parliament in the Union Cabinet.

According to Khurshid, the party comes first, the party makes the government, and therefore, if changes are to take place, they will take place systematically in both.

The plan to revive the Congress has been taken following the initial report of the A.K. Antony Committee which looked into reasons for the party's extremely poor show in the recent Assembly elections in five states. The final report, which will be submitted to Sonia Gandhi by end of April, points out that a weak organisation was the main reason behind the party's rout.

Sonia Gandhi had set up the Antony Committee with Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Union Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde as the two other members following the Assembly elections rout, particularly to study the Congress's show in Uttar Pradesh where Amethi MP and General Secretary Rahul Gandhi had worked very hard and almost made it a prestige issue.

Sonia angry at Telangana MPs

Sonia Gandhi is also peeved over the conduct of Congress lawmakers from the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh, who have defied the party leadership and disrupted proceedings in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

At the Congress Core Committee meeting where the decision to suspend eight Congress Members of Parliament from Telangana was taken, there was a view that a wrong signal would go out if the if party was not able to control its own lawmakers in Parliament.

Several crucial states elections are scheduled in the next year and the party is trying to revive its fortunes.

There is a major leadership crisis in Andhra Pradesh where the party did exceedingly well during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.

The Congress government of K Kiran Kumar Reddy is facing a tough challenge from YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy, who is using the name of his father and former Andhra chief minister late Y.S. Rajashekhar Reddy to establish his political authority.

The plan to revive the party by bringing in senior ministers back into the party is a throwback to the K Kamaraj Plan of the 1960s. Under the Kamaraj Plan, several senior Congress leaders resigned form their posts and went back to the party to revitalise it.

Several senior leaders like Lal Bahadur Shastri, Jagjivan Ram, Morarji Desai and S.K. Patil resigned and started working for the party.