Stuck in crisis, UPA delays reshuffle

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi held fourth round of meeting on Cabinet reshuffle on Sunday. No date, however, was announced till Sunday evening for the imminent reshuffle. HT reports.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi held fourth round of meeting on Cabinet reshuffle on Sunday. No date, however, was announced till Sunday evening for the imminent reshuffle.

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Rashtrapati Bhawan sources said they had not received any intimation from the Centre till evening. Even the President’s programme for Monday, circulated in official circle late on Sunday, had no mention of any swearing-in ceremony.

From all available indications, the proposed change in the council of ministers might happen this week.

Several ministerial-aspirants have already arrived in Delhi on Sunday, but received no invitation from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) so far.

Earlier on Saturday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had called up Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. The PM had told Mamata the reshuffle would take place after resolving the DMK crisis.

Mamata has told the PM that she wanted Dinesh Trivedi as the railways minister and Sudip Bandopadhyay as the minister of state for health and family welfare.

The same day, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee met DMK chief M Karunanidhi, but they spoke mainly on the issue of Kanimozhi’s arrest. While the Congress is ready to accommodate new DMK ministers in the Cabinet as replacements for A Raja and Dayanidhi Maran, the DMK is unlikely to send any new nominee.

Meanwhile, Maran’s resignation has not been forwarded by the Prime Minister to the President. As more heads may roll, the PM might send all resignation letters together.

Meanwhile, chances of Lalu Prasad, railway minister in the UPA 1, returning to the UPA 2 government looks dim. The Congress is not keen to relocate him even as he met Sonia last week.