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 Soina 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. Also, click on videos for Rajdeep Sardesai of CNN-IBNDiscover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
