Cabinet reshuffle likely on October 28: Sources

New Delhi: The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government is likely to go for the long-pending Cabinet reshuffle on October 28. There has been speculation about reshuffle in the Cabinet for quite some time now, especially after the exit of Trinamool Congress ministers both at the levels of Cabinet and Ministers of State levels. There have been berths vacated by DMK representatives A Raja and Dayanidhi Maran in the last two years after their names cropped in the 2G scam. However, DMK president M Karunanidhi recently made clear that his party would not like to reclaim their lost berths.

The speculation about Cabinet reshuffle gained fresh momentum after the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi met the President separately recently. Congress sources said that the reshuffle and induction could be largely from the party. There is speculation that some young faces, considered close to Rahul, like Manicka Tagore and Meenakshi Natarajan could be inducted into the council of ministers. Some among the young ministers like Sachin Pilot, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Jitin Prasada may get promoted to Cabinet rank or get independent charge as Minister of State. The exercise could see some of the ministers holding charges of two ministries losing one of the portfolios.

With six ministers from TMC leaving, two to three Congress leaders from West Bengal are expected to be accommodated. The names of Deepa Dashmunshi and Adhir Choudhury, known detractors of TMC chief Mamata Banerjee and West Bengal PCC chief Pradeep Bhatacharjee are doing the rounds. A reshuffle of the AICC secretariat is also on the cards and Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi is expected to get a larger responsibility in the organisation.

With the death of Vilasrao Deshmukh, there is a vacancy for a Cabinet minister from Maharashtra. Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahai and Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaisawal have come under attack from the Opposition on the coal block allocation issue. Changes in the government and the party could be taking place in tandem as there is a possibility that some of the ministers would be drafted for party work, sources said. They said the exercise could be a major affair as the team would be leading the party in the next Lok Sabha polls.

(With Additional Inputs from PTI)

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