Former Karnataka CM SM Krishna emerged as a strong candidate to head the finance ministry, as hectic lobbying commenced on Monday for vacant berths in the UPA government amidst indications that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may reshuffle his Cabinet soon.
Top government sources said aspiring candidates have wrangled appointments from Congress president Sonia Gandhi as well as the PM in the last two days, with an eye on the vacancies. Among those who met the Congress leadership were Arjun Sengupta, Kapil Sibal and Kamal Nath.
SM Krishna, who quit as governor of Maharashtra earlier this year to take charge of the Karnataka assembly elections, is also in the Capital. The US educated Fulbright scholar was elected to the Rajya Sabha a few months ago and Krishna?s pro-reforms image gives him an edge.