UPA rejigs Cabinet as it gears up for Lok Sabha polls

Railway ministry vacated by C P Joshi goes to Karnataka heavyweight Mallikarjun Kharge

Shifting gear into poll mode, UPA today conducted its last major reshuffle before the 2014 polls; this comes on the heels of the Congress party carrying out a massive organisational reshuffle on Sunday.

Of the eight new faces inducted into the Cabinet, four were sworn in as Union ministers keeping in mind, the upcoming Assembly polls in Rajasthan ( Sis Ram Ola, Girija Vyas) and Andhra Pradesh (K S Rao).

The crucial Railway ministry portfolio that was vacated by C P Joshi yesterday morning as he was appointed as Congress General secretary; has now been given to former labour minister Mallikarjun Kharge.

A buoyant Congress party charged up with an organizational reshuffle and Cabinet rejig, seemed to take on its detractors in the Opposition with gusto. Newly appointed Communications department chief Ajay Maken today said, “Its interesting that as the Congress under Vice President Rahul Gandhi is surging forward, the Opposition NDA is gradually shrinking.” The fracas within the NDA after the pullout of the JD(U) and the resultant sharp divisions within the BJP has boosted the Congress rank and file.  
   
With the incumbent Congress government in Rajasthan facing bleak prospects of a return to power, Jat leader Sis Ram Ola, a former Union minister has once again been inducted with the Labour and Employment portfolio.

With CP Joshi making his way back to the organization, another Rajasthan leader Girija Vyas former National Commission of Women chief has been inducted as Housing, Urban Poverty Alleviation, vacated by Ajay Maken.  

Alongwith Ola, another Congress leader who made his re-entry into the Cabinet after a gap of four years, is Oscar Fernandes with Road and Highways Ministry. Fernandes has previously held several portfolios as Union Minister in UPA I; Statistics and Programme Implementation, NRI Affairs, Youth and Sports Affairs and Labour and Employment. Fernandes, a confidant of the Congress President had been till now holding the post of AICC General Secretary.

Andhra Pradesh where Congress is likely to face a drubbing in the Assembly polls that are going to be held alongside the general elections in 2014, due to the Congress’ delay in taking a call on the demand for Telengana; has seen Andhra MP K S Rao inducted as  Textiles Minister. Incidentally, Rao is a strong advocate of united Andhra and is opposed to separate Telangana.

Four new entrants as Minister of State were sworn in  which included Manikrao Gavit in the Social Justice and Empowerment ministry , Santosh Chowdhury in the Health & Family Welfare ministry, J D Seelam as MoS Finance and E N S Nachiappan in the Commerce and Industry ministry.

While the Congress made much of the new “young” look in the AICC reshuffle with 52 being the average age of office bearers, the same cannot be said of the Cabinet rejig. 86 yer old Sis Ram Ola has been inducted into the Cabinet as have seniors like Oscar Fernandes and Girija Vyas.

Birender Singh who was dropped as AICC General Secretary yesterday was included in the Congress Working Committee today.
The Cabinet rejig was necerssitated after the resignation of DMK ministers and Pawan Kumar Bansal and Ashwani Kumar on corruption related allegations.

Culminating its task of getting its house and government in order, the Congress led UPA now hopes to get a leg up on the faction ridden BJP in its quest for 2014.