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.
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