The double trouble is from its two allies – one supporting the government from inside (DMK) and other from the outside (RJD).
Sources said that RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav is keen on making a come back to the union cabinet though his party has just four MPs. Lalu has been camping in capital for last one week to impress upon congress leadership for the purpose.
Given his good rapport with Congress President Sonia Gandhi and his recent support to the government by throwing barbs against the civil society, the Congress is finding it difficult to say ‘no’ to him.
Lalu had severely criticised Baba Ramdev at a time when the government was getting flak from all quarters on the way he was evicted out of Delhi on June 4-5 night. He had also trained his guns on Anna Hazare and his team at the July 3 all-party meeting convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wherein he had said “What is civil society? 120 crore people elect us, who elected them?”
However many Congressmen do not want to see Lalu in government.
The second trouble is pricklier. The DMK wants TR Baalu to man the Textile ministry vacated by Dayanidhi Maran. However, the Prime Minister has put his foot down and does not want Baalu in his cabinet – that too at a time when his government is engaged in an image-building exercise. The PM had blocked Ballu’s entry into the cabinet in May 2009 also when the UPA 2 government had come to power.
However, this time the DMK too has dug in its heels on the Baalu issue, though it knows it does not have too many bargaining chips after its whitewash in the recent Tamil Nadu assembly polls. The extent of the complication can be gauged by the fact that the government’s main trouble shooter Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is leaving for Chennai tonight to persuade DMK supremo Karunanidhi to propose any other DMK except Baalu for succeeding Maran.