59 new ministers to be sworn in Singh's cabinet

New Delhi - IndiaN Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday named 59 new ministers, taking the total strength of his council of ministers to 78, days after the Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance won a decisive mandate in the country's national elections. While 19 cabinet ministers had been sworn in with Singh last Friday, 14 more will take oath on Thursday along with 45 junior ministers. The development came after days of intense negotiations to induct leaders of key UPA constituents as ministers. The portfolios of the new ministers are expected to be announced after the swearing in on Thursday. Premier Singh sent the names of the new ministers to the President Pratibha Patil for inclusion in his council of ministers, his office said in a statement. The new government's 78-member team of ministers makes place for 19 allies of the UPA government: seven lawmakers each from the Dravida Munnetra Kazagham and the Trinamool Congress party, three each from the Nationalist Congress party and one each from the Muslim League and the National Conference. The outgoing government also had 78 ministers, with 23 allies. The new cabinet ministers include three former chief ministers - Virbhadra Singh, Farooq Abdullah and Vilasrao Deshmukh. Prominent among the new ministers is Shashi Tharoor, a former United Nations diplomat, who was India's official candidate for the post of Secretary-General in 2006. Tharoor who has had a 23-year career in the UN and served as the Under-Secretary General for Communications and Public Information won elections from the southern Kerala state as a Congress candidate. Twenty-eight year-old Agatha Sangma, a lawmaker from the north-eastern state of Meghalaya will be the youngest minister in Singh's team. Singh has already allotted the key ministries in his cabinet to senior Congress party leaders who have already assumed office. They include veteran Congress politicians, Pranab Mukherjee as the country's finance minister and SM Krishna, as the foreign minister. AK Antony has been retained the Defence Minister and P Chidambaram as the Home Minister for the second term.