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Eight new faces in Indian cabinet reshuffle | |
(about 13 hours later) | |
Eight new ministers have been sworn into India's cabinet in what is being seen as the final reshuffle before elections due next year. | |
PM Manmohan Singh appointed Mallikarjun Kharge as railways minister. | |
Oscar Fernandes has been given the roads ministry and Sis Ram Ola the labour ministry: Both are veteran politicians. | |
The moves are being seen as an attempt to re-energise the Congress Party-led government ahead of the 2014 polls. | |
Girija Vyas, former head of the National Commission of Women, has been given the housing, urban development and poverty alleviation portfolio. | |
With the eight new ministers the size of the cabinet, known as the Union Council of Ministers, has increased to 77. | |
Mr Kharge was previously in charge of the labour and employment ministry. | |
The reshuffle comes after two senior ministers, CP Joshi and Ajay Maken, resigned over the weekend following directives from the party. | |
Positions vacant | |
Apart from Mr Joshi and Mr Maken, vacancies in the cabinet have been created by the resignations of PK Bansal and Ashwani Kumar. | Apart from Mr Joshi and Mr Maken, vacancies in the cabinet have been created by the resignations of PK Bansal and Ashwani Kumar. |
Mr Bansal quit as the railway minister after allegations of corruption involving his nephew and a senior bureaucrat in his ministry. | Mr Bansal quit as the railway minister after allegations of corruption involving his nephew and a senior bureaucrat in his ministry. |
Mr Kumar resigned the law ministry following a controversy over an investigation into the allocation of coalfields. Both men deny any wrongdoing. | Mr Kumar resigned the law ministry following a controversy over an investigation into the allocation of coalfields. Both men deny any wrongdoing. |
A number of positions in the cabinet have also been lying vacant since two prominent allies of the government, the regional Trinamool Congress and DMK parties, pulled out last year. | A number of positions in the cabinet have also been lying vacant since two prominent allies of the government, the regional Trinamool Congress and DMK parties, pulled out last year. |
The Congress Party has been the dominant force in Indian politics for almost all of the past 66 years. | The Congress Party has been the dominant force in Indian politics for almost all of the past 66 years. |
But since its re-election in 2009, it has been tainted by allegations of corruption and the mis-selling of national assets. | But since its re-election in 2009, it has been tainted by allegations of corruption and the mis-selling of national assets. |
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