Defence Minister A.K. Antony on Saturday steered clear of the controversy about who is number two in the Union Cabinet.
"Nobody is senior or junior in the Union Cabinet. All are equal," he told reporters while responding to a query after commissioning of INS Sahyadri here.
Interestingly, two of his junior Cabinet colleagues Sachin Pilot and Milind Deora were by his side when he made this observation.
"There is no politics in Defence," he said, reiterating his stand that he would not answer questions relating to politics.
Mr. Antony's remark assumes significance in the wake of raging controversy as to who would be designated number two in the Union Cabinet after Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's departure to contest for the post of President.
Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was sore at Mr. Pawar not being nominated as the number two in the Cabinet.
Mr. Pawar had kept the Congress on tenterhooks and had skipped Thursday's Cabinet meeting.
Keywords: A.K. Antony, NCP-Congress stand off, UPA, cabinet ministers
When the "chosen one",who is ready for a bigger role, joins the Manmohan Singh
government, will you and your present cabinet colleagues be equal to him, Mr.Antony?
It is not seniority or juniority that is bothering Mr Pawar.It boils
down to earning and escaping.The media is also foxed by the wily
politicians.As for the readers,they never get to know the truth
The Congress Party n its MINISTERS are NOT sincere even to the UPA partners. Mr. AK Antony the so-called CLEAN MAN is just trying to be-fool the reporters. He is not clarifying as to who will preside the Cabinet Meeting in the absence of the Prime Minister. We all know that all Cabinet Ministers are equal. We also know that the Prime Minister is FIRST AMONG EQUALS and Pranab Mukherji was designated SECOND AMONG EQUALS which place has now been taken (with the clandestine ok of Sonia n Manmohan) by AK Antony.
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