New Delhi:  Yesterday, Veerappa Moily was upset and rather vocal about it. Today, as he took charge of his new assignment – Corporate Affairs – he assured everyone that he was “happy with my ministry.”
“The Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi know when they entrust me with a job…they know I am reformist…with that faith and trust they entrusted me…let me manage my job,” said the new Corporate Affairs Minister, who was the Law Minister till Tuesday’s reshuffle.
Clearly, a good night’s sleep had helped.
Mr Moily’s first reaction to the Cabinet reshuffle was a bitter review of what had forced his transfer from the Law Ministry, and sleeping over it overnight seemed to have helped. On Tuesday evening, after the swearing-in ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan, Mr Moily had blamed “vested interests” for his move. Today, he refused to talk “vested interests” and said he has no comment to offer, when asked.
Of his new task Mr Moily said, “I have just taken over. This is not new to me. A lot of references used to come to me as Law Minister. This is the Ministry for the future of the country. A new bill has been drafted and the immediate challenge is to push that forward. We will definitely make the Ministry the real focus for development of the country. Corporate governance is important…I would like to totally concentrate on that.”
Mr Moily’s exit from the Law Ministry came after the government found itself losing ground in the Supreme Court in several high-voltage cases including the telecom scam. However, he said that “vested interests” opposed to his campaign for law reforms had conspired to blame him for the government’s legal setbacks. “Whatever sin is committed by the administrative ministries, they will try to attach that to Law Ministry. It is the fault on the part of the administrative ministry, it has nothing to do with us. We are only the face in the court,” he said on Tuesday.
Mr Moily also said last evening that his principle of reforms, for “fastest and inclusive justice” had upset some people, though he did not indicate who. “Reform is not pleasant for everybody,” he said.
Mr Moily attacked the media, accusing it of “sometimes being blind to the situation and reality.” He said of his term as Law Minister, “I am very proud what I have done…it is unprecedented.”
Salman Khursheed is the country’s new Law Minister.