New Delhi: Days after two Union Ministers were sacked, there were reports of a feud between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. But the Congress on Sunday downplayed that and said that there is no rift. The party has rubbished all reports that the Prime Minister has been isolated.
Senior Congress leader Janardhan Dwivedi on Sunday reiterated that the resignations of Pawan Kumar Bansal and Ashwani Kumar were a joint decision of both Manmohan and Sonia. Earlier, the Congress gave full credit to the UPA chairperson for the resignations. "Dropping of the two ministers was joint decision of PM Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi," said Dwivedi.
Sources say the party is upset with the Prime Minister's strong defence of Ashwani even as the BJP has upped the ante demanding his resignation.
The Congress, meanwhile, is mulling a complete facelift by way of a reshuffle even as Manmohan is left in a vulnerable spot. The Congress core group is meeting on Sunday evening ahead of the reshuffle....
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02:31 PM, May 12, 2013
New Delhi: Attorney General GE Vahanvati, who was under scanner for trying to influence CBI's coal scam status report, will continue in his position. Government sources on Saturday confirm there will be no action against the top law officer. Meanwhile, sacked Law Minister Ashwani Kumar on Saturday came out in his defence saying he resigned only to avoid any unnecessary controversy claiming that his conscience still remains clear. He also...
06:47 PM, May 11, 2013
New Delhi: A day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was forced to sack Ashwani Kumar as Law Minister and Pawan Kumar Bansal as Railway Minister, the Congress party has given full credit to party President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi for taking action against the tainted ministers. "Congress President and Rahul Gandhi never tolerate corruption and that is why they took the resignation of the two ministers," Congress...
12:06 PM, May 11, 2013
New Delhi: After days of sustained pressure, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was finally forced to act against his ministers charged with corruption and interference. Law Minister Ashwani Kumar and Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal were both forced to quit on Friday. Both of them called on the Prime Minister on Friday evening and submitted their resignations. While Ashwani Kumar was sacked for interfering in CBI's coalgate probe report, Pawan Bansal...
07:55 AM, May 11, 2013
New Delhi: Congress on Saturday maintained silence over Union Minister Beni Prasad Verma's renewed attack on outside ally Samajwadi Party, which is hopeful that he will be removed during a minor Cabinet reshuffle being talked about soon. Targeting the SP yet again on Saturday, he said that there will be a 'funeral procession' for the party after the next Lok Sabha elections predicting that it will win only four seats,...
08:48 PM, Mar 30, 2013
The much-awaited reshuffle of the four-year-old Omar Abdullah ministry in Jammu and Kashmir will be carried out on Tuesday in the first such exercise after the Chief Minister assumed office and less than two years ahead of the next Assembly elections. ...
10:20 PM, Jan 14, 2013
New Delhi: There seems to be no end to the Union Ministry reshuffle. According to sources, Andhra Congress MP Purandeswari Devi, who was given the charge of Minister of State for Commerce and Industries on Sunday, is now likely to be made MoS Textiles (Independent charge). Sources also said that Tamil Nadu MP S Jagathrakshakan will take over as the Minister of State for Commerce and Industries. Currently, Jagathrakshakan is...
06:09 PM, Nov 02, 2012
New Delhi: Newly sworn-in Minister of State for Defence Lalchand Kataria has now been appointed as Minister of State for Rural Development Ministry after much confusion. Kataria, a first-time inductee into the Cabinet, was given his new post after meeting the Prime Minister on Tuesday. His first appointment as MoS Defence was put on hold as the other MoS Defence Jitendra Singh is also from Rajasthan. Kataria had refused to...
08:35 AM, Oct 31, 2012
New Delhi: Sulking over the work allocation in Defence Ministry to him, Lalchand Kataria on Tuesday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and sought a change in his portfolio which he has refused to take charge in the last two days. Official sources said Kataria conveyed to the Prime Minister that since the other Minister of State, Jitendra Singh, also hailed from Rajasthan like him, he would find it difficult to...
08:39 PM, Oct 30, 2012
New Delhi: Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi is likely to be elevated and made the Congress Secretary General or Working President. A decision on Rahul's role in the party is likely to be taken on November 2. Many from Rahul's team, younger faces took charge or were moved up to meaty portfolios in Sunday's Cabinet reshuffle. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday said that Rahul didn't want to become a...
12:35 PM, Oct 30, 2012
New Delhi: BJP on Monday alleged that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has rewarded the corrupt ministers with "promotions" in the reshuffle and shied away from giving Cabinet berths to the young leaders. "Some new ministers have been inducted into the Manmohan Singh Cabinet in his last ditch but unsuccessful attempt to save his sinking ship. People had expected that he will try to wash away some of the taint but...
03:57 AM, Oct 30, 2012
The Congress-led UPA got 17 new faces with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh going in for a major reshuffle of his ministry on Sunday. ...
11:57 PM, Oct 29, 2012
Jaipal Reddy denies reports that he was upset over being moved out of the Petroleum Ministry under corporate pressure. ...
10:48 PM, Oct 29, 2012
Can we expect better governance and renewed reform after the UPA Cabinet reshuffle? ...
09:52 PM, Oct 29, 2012
New Delhi: Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh on Monday ruled out any "pressure" on the shifting of Union Minister S Jaipal Reddy from Petroleum to Science and Technology Ministry. "The Cabinet reshuffle is the prerogative of the Prime Minister. There is no question of any pressure. Jaipal Reddy is a very seasoned politician. He has served in the Petroleum Ministry and now he will serve in Science and Technology Ministry,"...
09:30 PM, Oct 29, 2012
Was Jaipal Reddy downgraded because of him being tough on Reliance and his inability to manage oil marketing companies better. ...
07:34 PM, Oct 29, 2012
Jaipal Reddy's controversial exit from the Petroleum Ministry has raised many eyebrows. Activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal has accused the government of rewarding corrupt ministers while punishing the honest ones. Citing Salman Khurshid's elevation to External Affairs Minister and Jaipal Reddy's exit from the Petroleum Ministry, both the BJP and Kejriwal alleged that the Congress-led UPA government is demoting its honest ministers. ...
06:53 PM, Oct 29, 2012
New Delhi: Dismissing all speculations of veteran Congress leader S Jaipal Reddy being upset over the change in his portfolio, the new Union Minister for Science and Technology said that he was "excited to be a part of this ministry" and called it an important one. Addressing a press conference after assuming his new office, Reddy said, "Science and Technology is an important ministry and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has...
06:28 PM, Oct 29, 2012
Nagpur: Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithiviraj Chavan has said that the state Cabinet will be revamped before the Winter Session of the State Legislature. "The Maharashtra Cabinet will be reshuffled before the Winter Session which commences in Nagpur from December 10," Chavan told reporters on Sunday night on the sidelines of a function. To a question why not a single Member of Parliament from Maharashtra, particularly from Vidarbha, was inducted into...
05:21 PM, Oct 29, 2012
As Congress leader Manish Tewari takes up the charge of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, the first challenge the minister faces is to meet the deadline of cable TV digitisation. ...
05:13 PM, Oct 29, 2012
