Although former Finance Minister P Chidambaram's name was in circulation on Thursday for the post of finance minister, there were indications that Prime Minister-designate Manmohan Singh might keep the portfolio with himself at least until the Budget, tipped to be tabled in July.
Former Reserve Bank of India Governor and Rajya Sabha member Bimal Jalan denied that he had been approached or was in the running for the post of finance minister.
As talks on government formation proceeded apace today, a notable addition to the list was People's Democratic Party leader Mehbooba Mufti, who could get the tourism portfolio, as a Kashmiri Muslim face in the government.
The Telangana Rajya Samiti put in its claim for the water resources ministry for its chief, K Chandrashekhar Rao, with a possible berth for colleague, A Narendra, later.
Sharad Pawar was reportedly torn between asking for the power and the defence portfolios. Officially the Nationalist Congress Party will decide on whether to join the government only on Friday.
A tussle was evident over the prized slot of minister of state in the Prime Minister's Office. While a section of the party forwarded Jyotiraditya Scindia's name, the names of some senior Congress leaders were also in circulation.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha decided to put in its bid for portfolios only after it saw how many berths had been given to Ram Vilas Paswan and the Telangana Rajya Samiti. However, it did remind the Congress that Assembly elections in Jharkhand were due next year.
Laloo Prasad Yadav left Delhi in a fit of rage after his claim to the home portfolio was turned down.
Congress leader Arjun Singh went to negotiate with him, but Yadav left Delhi in a private plane when the Congress made it quite clear that it was not going to surrender the home portfolio to an ally.
The understanding in the Rashtriya Janata Dal was that Yadav wanted to come to Delhi himself and become a minister.
However, other party leaders were realistic and conceded that agriculture with animal husbandry was a much more realistic goal and advocated sending someone else to Delhi.
Among Congress leaders, it seemed that K Natwar Singh would get the external affairs portfolio, with home possibly going to Pranab Mukherjee.
However, there was speculation that Mukherjee could also opt to stay in the party organisation. There was no clarity on whom information and broadcasting would go to, Ambika Soni or Jaipal Reddy. Ghulam Nabi Azad was tipped to return to the ministry of civil aviation.
The situation is expected to be clearer on Friday. Consultations are still on, but at her meeting with Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet, Congress President Sonia Gandhi reportedly sought his help in negotiating portfolios with allies.
The implication of this is that Gandhi has greater faith in Surjeet's negotiating skills with the allies, than those in her own party.
