NEW DELHI: A day after taking oath of office and secrecy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh got down to business, beginning with his first day in the office in his second five-year term.
Singh distributed key Cabinet portfolios yesterday after the Congress party’s resounding victory in national elections. Singh named outgoing Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, 73, regarded as one of India’s canniest politicians, to the Finance Ministry to steer the revival of the economy which has slowed as a result of the global financial crisis.
Singh brought in a new face to the Cabinet as external affairs minister — Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna, 77, a former chief minister of southern Karnataka state and party veteran to guide India’s foreign policy during a period of heightened tensions with neighboring Pakistan.
Palaniappan Chidambaram, seen as having overhauled India’s security in the wake of the attacks on Mumbai last November that left 179 dead, will continue to head the Home Ministry, a government statement said. A.K. Antony will retain charge of the Defense Ministry, said the statement, which added the new Parliament would convene June 1. Sharad Pawar will keep the Agricultural Ministry while Mamata Banerjee will serve as railway minister.
Both Pawar and Banerjee are key regional allies in the Congress-led coalition which won 262 seats in the 543-member Parliament, just 10 short of the 272 needed for a working majority.
Singh, a 76-year-old, soft-spoken economist, is the first prime minister since the country’s post-independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru to be returned to office after completing a full term. “Portfolios of other ministers will be announced later,” a government spokesman said without elaborating.
Congress had campaigned hard on a poverty-alleviation platform for India’s rural millions, and voters also responded to the image of Singh as a steady, pragmatic leader capable of steering the country through the economic downturn. The alliance quickly garnered pledges of support from independents and others to take its voting strength to 322. But a row over Cabinet positions between the Congress and a key southern coalition ally, the DMK, resulted in Singh finalizing a shorter list of ministers with more expected to be sworn in next week.
The first Cabinet meeting was held at Singh’s residence, which according to a prime ministerial aide, “was called to decide when to convene Parliament and discuss the modalities for presentation of the union budget.”
“Ministries that have remained unallocated, will be looked after by the prime minister,” according to press release from president’s office. Decision remains pending on allocation of portfolios for ministers who were administered oath of office on Friday.
These include Kamal Nath, Kapil Sibal, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Jaipal Reddy, Anand Sharma, Veerappa Moily and C.P. Joshi.
Meanwhile, the Congress is hopeful that differences with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) will be resolved soon on allocation of ministerial portfolios. Azad dismissed “reports” on differences between the Congress and DMK as “pure speculation.”
— With input from agencies
