It is not only the Congress allies who seem miffed with the constitution of the Union council of ministers and the subsequent allocation of portfolios.

Former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Nedurumalli Janardhan Reddy is upset that he finds no mention in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's ministry, even though for the record he told this correspondent that "allocating portfolios is the prerogative of the prime minister."

This is a drama that is being played out in two capitals. In Hyderabad, Reddy's wife N Rajyalakshmi, who was inducted into Chief Minister Y Rajasekhara Reddy's cabinet as education minister on Saturday, has also put in her papers, piqued at her husband's non-inclusion in the Union council of ministers.

Reddy, Congress member of Parliament from Visakhapatnam, would only tell rediff.com, " I have nothing to say, it is all in the hands of the PM."

Interestingly, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi announced in Chennai on Sunday night that his party's ministers will not attend office since the portfolios granted to them were not what was assured to them in a letter – delivered to him by none other than Janardhan Reddy.

Reddy, however, parried all further queries on the subject. "Why should I say anything in this context when I have said it is the prime minister's prerogative? I am a former chief minister with considerable political and administrative experience. Therefore, I need not ferret out unnecessary details," he told this correspondent.