Prabhu 'needed for party work'

Federal Minister for Power Suresh Prabhu resigned from his post in order to work for his Shiv Sena party, in the same manner that senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ministers quit the ministry to devote themselves to party activities, the party's official newspaper, Saamna, has said.

The newspaper said Prabhu did not give up his job because Sena chief Bal Thackeray was annoyed with him.

On the contrary, the party has been satisfied with his performance as Prabhu, who was referred to as "Mr Clean", was doing a good job of planning power reforms and projects that would ensure electricity to every home in the country by the year 2012.

However, the paper reported that though Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has still not taken a decision on his resignation, Prabhu was required for party work and therefore had to resign for the same reasons as BJP ministers Arun Jaitley and M. Venkaiah Naidu.

However, the Sena chief himself had expressed earlier, more than a month ago, that he was not happy with his ministers. He had then stated in a national newspaper, "Suresh Prabhu thinks he is doing the best. He claims that whatever he is doing today, you will see miraculous development and progress after 10 years. Till then, what? I told him to think of the remaining two years. Are you going to continue, will this BJP government continue?"

Apparently, the likelihood of any mid-term elections means that the party would have to go back to the electorate with some kind of achievements to show and no one can tell the voter to wait for 12 years.

Moreover, sources say that he is annoyed with his ministers who, despite holding different portfolios, have not contributed to the party kitty.

There are reports of Sena politicians approaching Prabhu for funds and asking him to campaign for them in the local body elections in Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri districts from where the minister hails. Prabhu, apparently, had expressed his inability to do so, thus irritating the party chief.

Sources here said Anand Adsul, a parliamentarian from the Buldhana constituency, would get a minister's post in Vajpayee's cabinet if the prime minister accepts Prabhu's resignation. He will take over the post of Anant Geete, Minister of State for Finance, who is likely to take over the ministry of power.

Meanwhile, following reports of the Sena chief's intention to quit active politics, several party workers went to his residence in Bandra on Wednesday, appealing to him not to abandon them. The Sena chief's son Uddhav told party workers that Thackeray was disgusted with the corruption in politics and that is why he expressed his disgust in wanting to quit.

In the last of the interviews published in Saamna, Thackeray said politics had become so rotten that it was difficult for an individual like him to stay on.

Talking about the nexus between the film industry and the underworld, he remarked that this link existed for a long time, from the time of early gangsters like Haji Mastan, a notorious smuggler.

So much so, he was warned by Mastan not to carry out a campaign against smuggling and as a favour he would bear all the expenses for the next elections, he said.

Thackeray said he not only refused this offer but his campaign was responsible for the enactment of an anti-smuggling law by Parliament. "This was told to me by Sharad Pawar (president of the Nationalist Congress Party) though he may deny it today."