Click to play videoNew Delhi: Manmohan Singh on Friday became the first Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to be sworn in for a second term after completing full five years in office. Manmohan and 19 other Cabinet ministers were sworn in at Rashtrapati Bhavan by President Pratibha Patil.
The new Cabinet includes Pranab Mukherjee, AK Antony, P Chidambaram, Sharad Pawar, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Sushil Kumar Shinde, S Jaipal Reddy, Kamal Nath, Vayalar Ravi, Meira Kumar, Murli Deora, Kapil Sibal, Ambika Soni, BK Handique and Anand Sharma.
There are also some new faces, too, in the Union Cabinet. SM Krishna, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Rajasthan Congress unit President C P Joshi and Veerappa Moily also took oath of office and secrecy.
Sources say Krishna could be the new External Affairs Minister while Mamata, who was Railway Minister in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government, is likely to get the same portfolio.
First time-MP Joshi is a former education minister of Rajasthan and could get Rural Development Ministry or Panchayati Raj Ministry while Moily made his debut as a minister at the Centre and could get law.
Out of the 19 Cabinet Ministers, 17 are from the Congress. Clearly, the Cabinet has a Congress stamp on it. With 206 MPs, it is clearly the Congress that is calling all the shots.
Though the party did appear on a sticky wicket on the eve of the swearing in ceremony with differences cropping up with ally Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam (DMK), the Congress has managed to put up a team of its own choice called the A Team.
With the swearing-in ceremony over, Congress has given an impression that it can manage its coalition with finesse.
The only non-Congress ministers to have taken oath on Friday were Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar and Mamata. Quite clearly Congress has managed to put it's seal through and through.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)
 |
 |
 |
|
More on IBNLive Right Now
MOST SHARED
PHOTOGALLERY
