NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, flush from a resounding national election win, yesterday added 59 members to his week-old Cabinet, rewarding loyal coalition allies with ministerial posts.
Singh, a soft-spoken economist, was sworn in with a small number of ministers on Friday after a row over Cabinet seats with his Congress party’s biggest ally, the DMK, held up the process.
The dispute was resolved earlier this week and Singh completed the task of forming a government almost a fortnight after the Congress-led alliance secured a second term in office on May 16.
In a businesslike ceremony that started punctually at 11.30 a.m. at the historic Ashoka Hall in the presidential palace, President Pratibha Patil administered the oath of office to the ministers.
The ruling coalition won 262 seats in April-May elections to the 543-seat Parliament and quickly secured the numbers required to cross the 272-member working majority mark.
Congress had campaigned 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 an economic downturn.
The new ministers include Cabinet and junior ranks with many young and fresh faces.
However the portfolios they will hold were still to be announced.
Among those included was former UN undersecretary-general Shashi Tharoor, 53, who was India’s official candidate to succeed former UN chief Kofi Annan in 2006 but finished second behind winner Ban Ki-moon.
Agatha Sangma, 28, elected from northeastern Meghalaya state became the youngest federal minister when she was sworn in. “I feel very, very blessed,” she told the NDTV news channel ahead of the ceremony. The government is a mix of veteran politicians and Congress stalwarts and several new faces, representing a younger generation brought in by Sonia’s son, Rahul Gandhi.
Singh described his Cabinet as a mix of “experience and youthful energy.” “There are several factors like availability of talent and other considerations that played a role” in picking candidates, Singh said.
With 79 members, “this is the biggest Cabinet in a decade,” said political analyst Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, adding that Singh and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi wanted “to represent different regions, religions and caste groups.” About half a dozen belong to the main minority Muslim community.
Rahul emerged as a major force in the Congress party ahead of the 2009 vote and has been credited as the key strategist of the election victory, campaigning relentlessly in the months before the vote.
Rahul was asked to join the Cabinet — a common precursor to the prime ministership — but declined. He has said he wants to continue his work strengthening the party’s youth wing. Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani was conspicuous by his absence at the ceremony. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader had attended the first installment of ministerial inductions last week.
As the ceremony proceeded with clockwork precision, the others quickly followed suit. Some fumbling a bit, like Congress’ Jairam Ramesh who forgot to sign the register after his oath and V.
Narayansamy who asked the president to wait a bit while he settled his papers. But Saugata Ray of the Trinamool Congress was only too ready and started off even before Patil could prompt him, leading to laughs all around.
— With input from agencies
