NEW DELHI, 7 April 2008 — Seven ministers were inducted into the federal Cabinet and six ministers resigned as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reshuffled his government yesterday.
Those inducted at a swearing-in ceremony in the evening were young members of Parliament Jyotiraditya Scindia and Jitin Prasada, former Chief Election Commissioner M.S. Gill, chief of the Congress party in Puducherry V.N. Narayanswamy, industrialist-turned-politician Sanjay Bagrodia, Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Raghunath Jha and Rameshar Oraon from Jharkhand.
President Pratibha Patil administered the oath of office and secrecy at a function attended by the prime minister, his Cabinet colleagues and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
The six ministers of state who resigned were Suresh Pachouri (personnel and parliamentary affairs), Dasari Narayan Rao (coal), M.V. Rajasekharan (planning), T. Subbirami Reddy (mines), Akhilesh Das (steel) and Manikrao Gavit (home).
An official statement said President Patil has accepted their resignation with immediate effect.
Official sources said Manmohan Singh decided to carry out the changes after the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) declared that it had no intention of toppling the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
The changes assume significance in view of the upcoming elections in the key states of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rules both states, where the Congress party is determined to bounce back to power. The junior Scindia, son of the late Madhavrao Scindia, represents Gwalior in the Lok Sabha.
Jitin Prasad, a Lok Sabha member from Shajahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, is the son of the late Congress veteran Jitendra Prasad.
Suresh Pachouri, who resigned as minister of state for personnel and parliamentary affairs, is likely to supervise elections in Madhya Pradesh. He is the president of the state unit of Congress.
As chief election commissioner, M.S. Gill lectured politicians about morality. With his induction into the Cabinet, he now becomes a full-time member of that political fraternity. “It is a totally different experience to see things from the other side. I will try to play it with the best of my ability,” said Gill.
