Chacko pulls up Govt., calls for full time Defence Minister

Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government amid reports of a Cabinet reshuffle in the coming days, Congress leader P C Chacko on Friday alleged that the neighboring countries are not taking India seriously because there is no full time Defence Minister.

"There is no full time Defence Minister for India who is taken seriously by our neighbours. If a full time Defence Minister comes, that will be good," Chacko told ANI here.

Commenting on reports that Prime Minister Narendra Modi may reshuffle his Cabinet before the Winter Session of Parliament, Chacko alleged that this is a 'lame duck' government from the very first day.

"Important portfolios were clubbed together and somebody was put in charge. So, there were no full time ministers in the important portfolios. Now, maybe the Prime Minister is thinking that many of the ministers are not good performers, not performing well. So, he wants to dump some ministers," he added.

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar is likely to be inducted in the Union Cabinet as the Defence Minister. At the moment, Arun Jaitley holds the charge of both Defence and Finance portfolios.

Among others, BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi is expected to be allotted a Cabinet berth.

BJP leader Yashwant Sinha's son Jayant too is in the race for a Cabinet berth, with reports suggesting that he is being considered as a Minister of State (MoS) for Defence or Finance. Other key people who are expected to be promoted are MoS Nirmala Sitharaman and Haryana leader Birender Singh.