All eyes on Big Four as reshuffle draws near
26 Oct 2012 7:05 AM IST
The much-awaited Cabinet reshuffle may be packaged with several surprises with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh likely to take a call on Friday on the fate of the big four – defence minister AK Antony, finance minister P Chidambaram, minister for external affairs SM Krishna and home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde. This crucial meeting will decide whether these four ministers will retain their cabinet portfolios or not. The reshuffle is scheduled for 11 am on Sunday.
What is most keenly being watched is the decision which the party’s general secretary Rahul Gandhi will ultimately take – whether to join the government or not. A source says that even though the final decision is his, if Gandhi does join the government then he might be given the charge of the rural development or human resource development ministry.
The reshuffle would also chart the future course for party veterans Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ambika Soni, Kamal Nath, Jayanti Natrajan and Mukul Wasnik, whether they would remain in the government or make their transition to work for the party, sources said.
The reshuffle would witness major changes, with as many as 12 to 13 fresh faces likely to be inducted as ministers, said the source. There are vacancies for four cabinet berths. The remaining would be inducted as ministers of state (MoS). Also, six ministers who hold twin portfolios or more will have to let go of one. This list includes Kapil Sibal who holds charge of HRD and telecom, road and transport as well as railway minister CP Joshi, law and minority affairs minister Salman Khurshid, corporate affairs and power minister M Veerappa Moily and Overseas Indian affairs, micro, small and medium enterprises, science & technology and earth sciences Minister Vayalar Ravi.
What is most keenly being watched is the decision which the party’s general secretary Rahul Gandhi will ultimately take – whether to join the government or not. A source says that even though the final decision is his, if Gandhi does join the government then he might be given the charge of the rural development or human resource development ministry.
The reshuffle would also chart the future course for party veterans Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ambika Soni, Kamal Nath, Jayanti Natrajan and Mukul Wasnik, whether they would remain in the government or make their transition to work for the party, sources said.
The reshuffle would witness major changes, with as many as 12 to 13 fresh faces likely to be inducted as ministers, said the source. There are vacancies for four cabinet berths. The remaining would be inducted as ministers of state (MoS). Also, six ministers who hold twin portfolios or more will have to let go of one. This list includes Kapil Sibal who holds charge of HRD and telecom, road and transport as well as railway minister CP Joshi, law and minority affairs minister Salman Khurshid, corporate affairs and power minister M Veerappa Moily and Overseas Indian affairs, micro, small and medium enterprises, science & technology and earth sciences Minister Vayalar Ravi.
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