When it comes to articulation, Chemicals and Fertiliser Minister M.K. Azhagiri may not be the best performer in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s team. But he has certainly managed to exhibit some new tricks.
During the latest meeting of the federal cabinet, the proposal to hike urea prices and the launch of a new fertiliser subsidy policy, no doubt, came from Azhagiri, as his more senior colleague Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee coerced him.
But those at the meeting were flummoxed when Azhagiri also came armed with a two-page dissent note and why the cabinet should defer the controversial decision — which he made his party colleague and Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran read out.
This evoked equally curious responses. One minister quipped: “So far, I thought it was either a case of good economics or good politics. But with our fertiliser minister, it is a rare combination of good economics and even better politics.”
rounak