May 27, 2009
Stage is set for the second round of reshuffle for the UPA council of ministers.
Continuity with change was the broad theme of the new Council of Ministers as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday finalised his team, bringing in 28 new faces. While he dropped “non-performing assets” like Arjun Singh, Sisram Ola and H R Bhardwaj to signal his intent, politics was writ large in the composition of the new team comprising 10 Dalits and five Muslims. Over one-third of UPA MPs from election-bound Maharashtra got ministerial berths, five in the Cabinet.
After hectic deliberations over eleven days, Singh inducted 14 new members in his Cabinet, including Vilasrao Deshmukh, Virbhadra Singh, Farooq Abdullah and Mallikarjun Kharge. He also recommended the names of seven Ministers of State (Independent Charge) and 38 MoS to President Pratibha Patil. They will all be sworn in at 11.30 am tomorrow. The total strength of the Council of Ministers has gone up to 79, including 34 in the Cabinet (also comprising the Prime Minister).
With youth being the buzzword this election, the Prime Minister inducted some more young faces like Sachin Pilot, R P N Singh, Vincent Pala and Agatha Sangma in the Council of Ministers but the Cabinet was reserved for veterans with as many as nine former Chief Ministers finding place. Plus Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi’s son M K Azhagiri was given a Cabinet berth while former Punjab CM Amarinder Singh’s wife Preneet Kaur, former Maharashtra CM Vasantdada Patil’s grandson Prateek Patil, former Gujarat CM Madhavsinh Solanki’s son Bharatsinh Solanki, former Gujarat CM Amarsinh Chaudhary’s son Tushar Chaudhary were made Ministers of State.
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