New Delhi:
It's finally over. The Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi have finished a long and detailed exercise and have chosen 79 ministers. The law allows a maximum of 81, so two vacancies still exist. For the first time detailed background checks were apparently carried out on each minister before they were selected. The real surprises are that big names from the previous cabinet who have been dropped are Arjun Singh, the former law minister H R Bharadwaj and the previous Home Minister Shivraj Patil. And in what's being called the Rahul effect, there are 29 new faces.
The Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi spent the day making phone calls to the 59 MPs who will be sworn in on Thursday.
Dr Singh's stamp is evident over the ministry, at least over those left out for performance.
THE DROPPED MINISTERS- HR Bharadwaj
- Saif-ud-din Soz
- Arjun Singh
- Ashwini Kumar
- Oscar Fernandes
But the PM and party also had to do a balancing regional between giving adequate representation to regions, castes and upcoming assembly elections.
In Karnataka, the Congress lost 2 seats and yet it's got 4 ministers. This could be to make up for last time when there was only one minister at the centre. More central ministers could perhaps help it recover ground lost to the BJP.
Also there are caste considerations.
Each of the four ministers - SM Krishna, V Moily, Mallikarjun Kharge and K H Muniyappa represent the separate and important castes and communities.
Uttar Pradesh gets 5 berths but not a single cabinet post.
There will be ministers of state - three of them with independent charge. Sources say, Rahul Gandhi played a key role.
The state unit wanted six berths but even a lower number could help the Congress continue its revival in the state that began with it winning a phenomenal 21 seats.
"We hope this will help in the turnaround in UP," said Salman Khurshid, MP, Congress.
Sacked as the chief minister of Maharashtra, Vilasrao Deshmukh is now back as cabinet minister.
Vilasrao Deshmukh illustrates criterion in selecting the ministry - upcoming state elections.
In the absence of Shivraj Patil, Deshmukh represents the important Marathwada region in the elections due around October.
In fact with Deshmukh pushing for the party to drop the NCP as an ally for the assembly election, regional representation and caste played a major role.
But careful handling had to go even for the tiny state of Himachal Pradesh. It elected only one Congress MP, Virbhadhra Singh.
So many at the Congress state unit were said to be angry that Anand Sharma, a Rajya Sabha member became Cabinet Minister but five time chief minister Virbhadra Singh wasn't. Which is why, he tops the list on the PM's website on Wednesday.