Manmohan to reshuffle Cabinet on Wednesday

Agencies

New Delhi, 19 January 2011: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will reshuffle his Cabinet on Wednesday at 5 PM. Singh is likely to include more young faces in the Cabinet and remove the non-performers. However, major portfolios like Finance, Home, Defence and External Affairs may not be disturbed. Kapil Sibal may be divested of one of the three ministries he runs with sources indicating he will give up Science and Technology portfolio and keep Human Resource Department along with Telecom.

 

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel may get a Cabinet rank, and Sources say that Sharad Pawar is likely to quit Food and Consumer Affairs Ministry and continue with the Agriculture portfolio. TR Baalu or TKS Elangovan may get a Cabinet berth after A Raja’s exit from Telecom Ministry. Salman Khursheed could also be inducted in the Cabinet.

 

Vacancies created by the Prithviraj Chavan and Shashi Tharoor are also to be filled up. One Minister of State for External Affairs is to be appointed with Jyothiraditya Scindhia being the frontrunner for the post. Trinamool Congress is may also get another Minister of State. Union Minister for Rural Development CP Joshi and Union Minister of Steel Veerbhadra Singh can be dropped from the Cabinet due to non-performance.

 

Earlier, Congress President Sonia Gandhi met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his residence 7 Race Course Road in New Delhi to decide on the Cabinet on Tuesday morning. Her political secretary Ahmed Patel was also present at the meeting. The Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi have met for the sixth time on Tuesday to finalise the names.

 

The speculation is that Sharad Pawar’s ministry is likely to be bifurcated and Pawar could lose the Food Ministry. Kamal Nath, Ambika Soni and Ghulam Nabi Azad may be moved to party, and also likely to be moved out are C P Joshi, Vilasrao Deshmukh, Virbhadra Singh and B K Handique.

 

While Salman Khursheed is likely to be elevated to cabinet rank, Kapil Sibal would retain the Telecom Ministry. However, Sibal may have to give up the HRD Ministry. Younger faces may also be given more work.