The die is cast for 5 PM on Wednesday, when the Union Cabinet goes in for a reshuffle, the first time after the UPA coalition came to power in 2009. After extended discussions, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi seem to have reached some sort of closure on just how to conduct this exercise.
The reshuffle is seen as sorely needed to arrest the general sense of drift that the government had fallen into.
Sources confirm that the scope of the Cabinet reshuffle will be big, including several major changes. The choice of Wednesday evening was dictated by the fact that President Pratibha Patil would get busy with the run-up to the Republic Day festivities later this week. The function to honour national bravery awards recipients has been shifted to 11 AM from the earlier evening slot to accommodate the reshuffle. Wednesday was also the only day available before Gandhi flies out to Dubai on a short vacation.
There was a serious tug of war, Congress sources say, between Mrs Gandhi?s reluctance to shake things up too much and the Prime Minister?s desire to save the reputation of his government.
While names were not discussed, Congressmen said new faces could be inducted into the Union Cabinet and several younger ministers having served their apprenticeship in the capacity of minister of state could be given promotions. The portfolios of home, finance, external affairs and defence, however, will not be touched.
Kapil Sibal would be told to look after telecom full-time and law minister M Veerappa Moily might be moved to the human resource development ministry, to take his place. The DMK will be given a different portfolio in place of telecom, most likely environment. The portfolios which require immediate occupants include science and technology, a minister of state for the Prime Minister?s Office, and a minister of state rank person for parliamentary affairs. Representation from Uttar Pradesh as well as from minority communities is expected to go up.