Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: After unleashing a political storm by announcing crucial policy reforms, the Congress-led UPA government at the centre is set for major reshuffle of the Council of Ministers next week.
According to sources, Union Defence Minister AK Antonty, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and External Affairs Minister SM Krisha are likely to hold on to their respective portfolios.
Despite expectations, Congress leader and youth icon Rahul Gandhi is unlikely to be a part of the government.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan could be brought back to Delhi and is likely to be inducted into the Union Cabinet.
If the sources are to be believed, many fresh faces could be inducted into the Union Cabinet when the next reshuffle takes place.
The next reshuffle is part of the proposed reforms and aimed at changing the image and perception of the crisis-ridden UPA government.
Manish Tewari, Meenakshi Natrajan, Jyoti Mirdha and Manicka Tagore could be inducted as ministers of state, while senior Congress leader Janardan Dwivedi could become a Cabinet minister.
Among the other possible inductees could be Chiranjeevi and Renuka Chowdhury.
Further, Ministers of State Oscar Fernandes and K Rehman Khan could be elevated to Cabinet rank.
Meanwhile, sources claim that ministers having dual charge would be stripped of their extra responsibilities. Similarly, Salman Khurshid could be moved out of the Minority Affairs Ministry and would continue only as Law Minister.
Kapil Sibal is also expected to lose HRD Ministry and only retain Telecom.
The reshuffle is expected to take place by September-end, before the start of Shraddh period.
With Agency Input
