New Delhi:
The cabinet will be reshuffled at 5 pm today - sources at Rashtrapati Bhawan say the President and her team have been alerted to the swearing-in.
On Monday morning, Dr Manmohan Singh met with UPA President Sonia Gandhi at his home where they reportedly finalised his new list of ministers.
Sources say on the menu for today is the swearing-in of 13 ministers - three cabinet ministers, four ministers of State with Independent Charge, and six Ministers of State. No changes are expected in the big four - Home, Finance, Defence and External Affairs - sources said.
The PM told editors two weeks ago that his government is perceived as India's most-corrupt government ever; the reshuffle was originally expected to address that, with the removal of under-performing ministers, and the induction of younger faces.
On the list of those likely to be part of the reshuffle exercise, Jyotiraditya Scinda and Milind Deora of the Congress would qualify as younger faces. Scindia is Minister of State for Commerce and Industry and there is talk that he could get a new ministry with Cabinet rank. Milind Deora's father Murli Deora had quit as Minister of Corporate Affairs last week citing old age as the reason and there was much speculation then that Milind, a second-term MP, would get a ministerial position.
Law Minister Veerappa Moily, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni, Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khursheed and Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath may see their portfolios change. So too is Jairam Ramesh, who is currently the Minister of State with independent charge for Environment and Forests.
After two major accidents over the weekend in which more than 40 people were killed and more than 100 injured, a priority will be to announce a new Railways Minister. Mamata Banerjee who held the post till she was elected Chief Minister of West Bengal has made it clear that her party, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), expects to hold on to the portfolio. Dinesh Trivedi of her party, at present the Minister of State for Health is expected to be elevated to Cabinet rank and take over Railways. Trinamool's Sudip Bandopadhyay is likely to be inducted as a minister of state.
Beni Prasad Verma, currently Minister of State for Steel, is expected to be elevated to Cabinet rank. And Congressman Gurudas Kamat and E Ahamed of the Indian Union Muslim League, both ministers of state, are likely to be made ministers of state with independent charge.
Film actor Raj Babbar, who did the Congress proud by winning the high-profile Firozabad seat in a 2009 by-election defeating Dimple Yadav, the wife of Akhilesh Yadav and daughter-in-law of Mulayam Singh Yadav, is likely to become a minister. This is Babbar's first Lok Sabha term as a Congressman. He was earlier a member of Mulayam's Samajwadi Party.
Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi, victorious in the recently held Assembly elections had recently said he would like more ministers from Assam. Gogoi might get his wish in the form of Congress MP from Dibrugarh, PS Ghatowar. Also likely to be inducted are Congressmen Charandas Mahant and Jagdambika Pal, hitherto famous for having been the UP Chief Minister for a day in 1998. Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natrajan is also likely to be inducted in the council of ministers.
Among those likely to be dropped are Sports Minister MS Gill, Minister for Tribal Affairs Kantilal Bhuria and BK Handique, veteran Congressman from Assam, who is the Minister for North-Eastern states.
The DMK has created two vacancies in the cabinet in the last few months with the resignations of A Raja and Dayanidhi Maran after they were charged with separate cases of corruption stemming from their terms as Telecom Minister. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee met on Saturday, in Chennai, with DMK Chief M Karunanidhi. (
Read: Pranab offers 2 Cabinet berths to DMK, Karunanidhi reluctant, say sources). The DMK has so far said it would not like any replacements for Mr Maran or Mr Raja - a stand that has the Congress worried that its Southern ally wants to exit the UPA and provide external support.