As many as 22 members have sworn in as the ministers today at Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi at 11. 30 am. Prime minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, opposition party leader Sushma Swaraj were present at the swearing in ceremony.  Prime minister Manmohan Singh has said that this would be the last reshuffle and termed it as a mixture of youth and experienced. Further, he has also said that he was disappointed since Rahul Gandhi didn't join the cabinet. It is known that prime minister Manmohan Singh wanted Rahul Gandhi to become the central minister.

As many as 17 new faces were inducted in the prime minister's cabinet today. Prominence was given to Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal states in this cabinet expansion. Five new leaders from Andhra Pradesh became the central ministers. Notable among them is K Chiranjeevi, the megastar of Tollywood. Notably, he has been allotted tourism ministry (independent charge). Ashwini Kumar has taken over as the law minister from Salman Khurshid while Veerappa Moily has got the petroleum ministry. Salman Khurshid would be given ministry of external affairs. Kamalnath has become the parliamentary affairs minister. This is his additional charge. D Purandareshwari became the commerce minister. She was earlier minister of state for HRD.

(AW Phani)