A day after Union agriculture, food and consumer affairs minister Sharad Pawar asked for help to lighten his ministerial load, the prospects of a Cabinet reshuffle before the commencement of the Monsoon Session of Parliament brightened considerably.
What has encouraged speculation further is the fact that political secretary to the Congress president Ahmad Patel met with civil aviation minister and NCP member Praful Patel on Friday night.
Top government sources have ruled out a major shake-up but say that some minor tinkering might be done.
This would include filling up the minister of state slot left vacant after the resignation of Shashi Tharoor and possibly the separation of the food and supplies ministries from Pawar?s kitty. The ministry would be a nodal one in implementing the food security act, something the Congress will be anxious to get into its own quota.
Significantly, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee met with Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi on Sunday in Chennai. The meeting was held ostensibly for building a consensus in the UPA coalition on the question of holding a caste census, but the reshuffle was also discussed.
Sources say that chemicals and fertilisers minister MK Alagiri is keen to go back to state politics, where a succession war between him and his brother, deputy chief minister MK Stalin is raging full scale. If that is agreed to, Kanimozhi, the DMK patriarch?s daughter, may find a berth in the Cabinet. But the terms of Alagiri?s return to Tamil Nadu politics and the question of Kanimozhi?s portfolio remain problematic.
Another name doing the rounds for inclusion is that of Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh whose party gave strategic support to the Congress during the last round of the Rajya Sabha elections, which saw Gandhi family loyalist Captain Satish Sharma being elected from Uttar Pradesh.
See Edit: After Pawar play