PM comes to the aid of Congress in team expansion.
Cabinet ministers and 12 Ministers of State sworn-in today, the induction and upgradation involved Congress leaders, from Ambika Soni to Anand Sharma to Ashwani Kumar.The Prime
minister also asserted quietly. Satish Sharma, who was expected to get a ministry, was kept out. Mani Shankar Aiyar’s wings were clipped when Petroleum was taken away from him and given to Maharashtra Congress veteran Murli Deora.
Manmohan Singh also retained the External Affairs
ministry with him. Speculation had been rife that Dr Karan Singh would be brought in as External Affairs Minister. But the PM was said to be of the view that MEA should remain with him, at least till the visit of US President George Bush to India in March.
Both the nuclear pact and the Iran vote are at a delicate stage and Manmohan Singh wanted to oversee these decisions.The inclusion of Vayalar Ravi from Kerala, GK Vasan from Tamil Nadu, and upgradation of Santosh Mohan Dev from Assam, another poll going state, to Cabinet rank.
The reason for giving Shinde the Power ministry was by way of “delayed justice”. When he led the Congress to victory after the elections in Maharashtra, he had been promised CMship but the tables were turned and the
party high command gave the crown to Vilasrao Deshmukh. An attempt has now been made to make amends.
The reshuffle also comes as bad news for Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dixit with the entry of Ajay Maken, the MP from Delhi who is being groomed as a future alternative to Dixit. Kapil Sibal, another MP from Delhi, has been upgraded to Cabinet rank. Dixit has come under attack from her party colleagues in the last year
With Ambika Soni now as Minister of Tourism and Culture, a clubbing of two of-a-kind departments, and Anand Sharma set to take over as MoS in the External Affairs department, the exercise leaves Sonia’s political secretary Ahmed Patel as the sole power centre around her in the party.
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