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The Bharatiya Janata Party leadership is engaged in snuffing out the budding crisis emanating out of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's decision to drop Dr C P Thakur from his council of ministers during the recent cabinet reshuffle.
Thakur's health portfolio has now gone to the BJP's star campaigner and Rajya Sabha member Shatrughan Sinha.
An angry Dr Thakur reportedly told his supporters that he could not comprehend his exclusion despite his constructive work in the health ministry.
"Dr Thakur is not angry. It is his supporters who are furious," pointed out Anil Kumar, the former minister's additional private secretary, adding they have even urged Thakur to leave the BJP and join the Congress.
However, "From Dr Thakur's conversation, this does not seem likely," Anil Kumar said.
However, the BJP leadership is not complacent and is concerned about the fall out of such a development in the caste-ridden politics of Bihar.
Dr Thakur belongs to the influential upper caste Bhumihar community and is the Lok Sabha MP from the prestigious Patna parliamentary constituency, which he bagged despite the strong-arm tactics of ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) musclemen.
Congress sources in Delhi said the party, which is a partner in the RJD-led coalition government in Bihar, would jump at the prospect of 'bagging' a stalwart like Dr Thakur.
If Dr Thakur were to cross over to the Congress, the consequences could be disastrous for the BJP's Bihar unit to say nothing of the erosion of its Bhumihar support base.
"As of now, all I know is that Dr Thakur is very much a member of our party. Everything else is speculation," BJP leader Sunil Shastri said.
More reports on Bihar
The Complete Coverage: Cabinet Reshuffle 2002
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