Cabinet expansion on the anvil?
New Delhi: A reshuffle-cum-expansion of the
Union Council of Ministers is on the cards and may take place
in the next fortnight.
Sources said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is
expected to carry out the exercise either by June 15 or early
July, ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament.
While the contours of the exercise were not known,
the Prime Minister had made it clear after the cabinet
reshuffle in January that "a more expansive" exercise will
take place after the budget session.
The much-talked about expansion gained ground after the
victory of Mamata Banerjee, who became the Chief Minister of
West Bengal, and resigned as Railway Minister at the Centre.
The talk in the political circle is that her party
colleague Mukul Roy, who has been given additional charge of
Minister of State in the Railway, will be elevated to the
Cabinet rank in the Railway ministry.
Banerjee had already indicated that her party will prefer
to keep the Railway portfolio.
Ministers like Kapil Sibal are holding more than one
portfolio. While there are some vacancies including that
created by the resignation of A Raja in the wake of the 2G
spectrum scam and Prithviraj Chavan, who became Chief Minister
of Maharashtra.
There has been no representation to three states in the
Union ministry - Chhattisgarh, Goa and Manipur.
After the CCPA meeting in the evening, DMK minister
Dayanidhi Maran met the Prime Minister.
PTI