Security shuffle: A change of rooms for Chidambaram

01 December 2008

New Delhi: The Mumbai terror attack claimed its most high profile victim yet with the Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh accepting the resignation of Home minister Shivraj Patil who steps aside from his position as the internal security affairs minister owning moral responsibility for the terror attack. Finance minister P Chidambaram now steps into Patil's shoes with the prime minister taking on finance as an additional charge.

With the finance and home ministries both located at the Lutyens-designed North Block, this will be a change of rooms for Chidambaram. With national elections a mere three months away it is not certain what Chidambaram is expected to achieve in this short period, but certainly he will be expected to impart a sense of reassurance to the governmnet and the country with his smooth professionalism.

Reports have named as National Security Advisor MK Narayanan, secretary (Home) and the director of the Intelligence Bureau as other high profile functionaries likely to follow Patil.

At the State level it is also being suggested that Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh may also be asked to leave; his deputy, RR Patil has already resigned (See: Maharashtra deputy CM RR Patil makes his exit). Like the other Patil in New Delhi, RR Patil was holding charge as home minister in the State cabinet.

Mumbai is the capital of the State of Maharashtra and also the financial hub of the country.

In public life for over four decades, Shivraj Patil was inducted into the Manmohan Singh Cabinet as a staunch Gandhi family 'loyalist.' This ensured his continuation in office even though he drew repeated criticism for his shoddy performance. To make matters worse he rapidly gained a reputation for serial dressing, an act of vanity that would become a public relations disaster for the government at the most inopportune of moments, such as the recent terror attack on the national capital New Delhi.