Union minister Jairam Ramesh, who has been chosen by the Congress to be the main speaker in the Rajya Sabha on the proposed Telangana bill, is likely to resign from the government after the next session of the Parliament ends on February 21. Mr Ramesh, who is a prominent face in the “war room” of the Congress, is in-charge of the manifesto committee of the party.
Sources said Mr Ramesh is tipped to quit the government, after the Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi made it a point recently that “manifesto of the party can not be made in an air-conditioned room”. However, Mr Ramesh, who played a major role in giving shape to the legislative proposal for the creation of Telangana state along with a package for the Seemandhara region, is holding out in the government to articulate the government and party view in the Rajya Sabha when the issue is discussed next month, sources said.
So far former Union minister for environment Jayanti Natrajan has quit the government but she has not yet been given any specified role in the party.
Mr Ramesh, who heads the Union rural development ministry, is already spending most of his time in the “war room” of the Congress at the Gurdwara Rakabganj road, sources added.
Following Mr Gandhi’s nudge to the manifesto committee to reach out to larger sections of the society before giving a final shape to the party’s manifesto for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Mr Ramesh will soon be left with hardly any time to attend to demands of the rural development ministry, sources said.
The Union minister has reportedly been nursing Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh after assuming charge of the rural development ministry in 2011 and is tipped to be the main pointsman of the party in these two states.
Besides, Mr Ramesh is also expected to give shape to the Congress’ campaign with emphasis on achievements in the social sector during the UPA tenure, with focus on National Food Security Act, MGNREGA among others.
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Jairam may resign in Feb.
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