Manmohan-Sonia meet soon, to be followed by Cabinet reshuffle

A meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi is likely in the next few days, to be followed by a reshuffle in the Cabinet.

The Prime Minister’s Office has already ascertained President Pratibha Patil’s availability in the capital. The President’s six-day visit to Nainital has been cancelled, Uttarakhand Director General of Police (DGP) J S Pande told reporters, without mentioning any reason. Patil was to have started her visit on June 12.

Uttarakhand is currently witnessing an agitation by yoga guru Ramdev against issues like corruption and black money and this could be one reason for the cancellation.

On June 24, the President will go to Chhattisgarh to address the Legislative Assembly in Raipur. She will also attend the wedding reception of Chief Minister Raman Singh’s son, Abhishek. The President will be in Delhi from June 18 to 23.

The Cabinet reshuffle was promised by the Prime Minister when the last one took place in January. The PM had said he was not happy at the exercise and had promised to hold another one.

Among the allies, the government has to decide on the fate of Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran as reports say the Central Bureau of Investigation is examining charges made by industrialist C Sivasankaran against him on the allocation of 2G spectrum. Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal is holding additional charge of telecom. The Ministry of Culture is with the Prime Minister. Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has vacated the railway ministry and has asked for two Ministers of State with Independent charge and one other ministership in lieu of the one they have vacated.