As soon as it became clear that the Congress-led UPA will form a government at the Centre, there was speculation in some sections of the media that Ahluwalia, who played a key role in formulating the economic policies of the outgoing government, is being considered for the post of finance minister.
“I would not like to make any comments on these sorts of media speculation,” Ahluwalia said when asked whether he could be the finance minister in the new government. However, he expressed happiness over the UPA getting a clear mandate in the 15th Lok Sabha. Other names doing the rounds for the finance portfolio are former Reserve Bank Governor C Rangarajan, who is now a member of the Rajya Sabha and Kamal Nath, Union Commerce Minister in the outgoing government.
After P Chidambaram was shifted from the finance ministry to the home ministry following the Mumbai terror attack, Ahluwalia played an important role in drawing up the stimulus package to spurt demand in the economy.
Though the prime minister and later External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee handled the finance portfolio, Ahluwalia played a major role in preparing the vote-on-account document.
While there is a “dominant” preference for economists like Ahluwalia or Rangarajan, there are equally “strong” views within the Congress to go for political figures who can formulate economic policies while keeping the “political angle” in mind, sources said.
In fact, when the need for a full fledged finance minister was felt, when the prime minister got admitted for a heart surgery in January this year, the names of political figures like former Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna were reportedly suggested.
DH News Service
