JOIN USAfter policy reforms, PM set to reshuffle Cabinet
After a blitz of reforms, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh now seems set to rejig his Cabinet.
A day after the government brushed aside protests from both Opposition and UPA constituents and allies, to open up the civil aviation and multi-brand retail sectors to foreign investors, speculation was rife on Saturday over a reshuffle in the Council of Ministers.
While Singh is understood to be keen on reshuffling the Cabinet next week, the Congress is also contemplating to change the chief ministers of its governments in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.
With the Congress top brass seeking to lift the sagging morale of the party ahead of the 2014 elections, several Union ministers like Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Social Justice Minister Mukul Wasnik, may be asked to quit the government and assume key responsibilities in the All India Congress Committee. Shashi Tharoor, who had to resign as Minister of State for External Affairs in 2010 over the Kochi IPL controversy, might return to the Union Cabinet.
Party spokespersons Janardan Dwivedi and Manish Tiwari may also get Cabinet berths. Besides, the Trinamool Congress might get another Minister of State (MoS) berth. Another UPA constituent, the Dravida Munnethra Kazhagam, may also get a MoS berth and party MP T K S Elangovan is understood to be the frontrunner for the post.
Maharashtra Industries Minister Narayan Rane’s meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday fuelled speculation about him being inducted into the Cabinet to fill the vacancy created by the demise of Science and Technology Minister Vilas Rao Deshmukh. Rane may also replace Prithviraj Chavan as chief minister of Maharashtra, although the latter played down rumours about his return to New Delhi.
Chavan had been the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office before being sent to Mumbai to replace Ashok Chavan as the state’s chief minister. His stint in Mumbai, however, saw the Congress’ relation with its ally, the Nationalist Congress Party, turning sour.
Speculation was also rife about Petroleum Minister Jaipal Reddy replacing Kiran Reddy as the Andhra Pradesh chief minister. Kiran Reddy may be given a berth in the Union Cabinet. While Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi is unlikely to be inducted into the Cabinet, he may take over as the Working President of the AICC.
Rahul Gandhi’s close aides Jyotiraditya Scindia and Jitin Prasad are expected to get promotions and made Ministers of State with independent charges.
Harish Rawat, MoS for Parliamentary Affairs, may also get a promotion, as he was apparently promised by the party leadership following his rebellion over appointment of Vijay Bahuguna as the chief minister of Uttarakhand.
One Congress MP from West Bengal, either Deepa Dasmunshi or Adhir Choudhury, may be made a MoS as nobody from the party now represents the state in the Council of Ministers after Pranab Mukherjee resigned as Finance Minister to contest the Presidential polls.