As planned earlier the Cabinet Reshuffle brought in a lot of fresh faces and the average age of the ministers plunged as there were several changes made and many more new inductees. However, Rahul Gandhi had not made a big mark on the changes as he intended earlier. The final picture gives you an idea that the changes were all finalized upon the decision of Congress Supremo Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh despite the young heir to the Congress lineage, made many important suggestions in the changes that were officially announced on Sunday morning.

This please-all reshuffle was nothing far from what was expected from a party like Congress. The caste and community equations were considered too. Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal were most profited with several people making it to the cabinet for the first time. This could also be a harsh signal to Jagan Mohan Reddy and co from Andhra Pradesh and the antipathetic Mamatha Banarjee.
Few members of the Rahul brigade like Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sachin Pilot and Kunwar Jitendra Singh were given significant assignments as ministers of state with independent charge.

The Congress also tried to show Arvind Kejriwal that his protests and allegations cannot deter their government by promoting Salman Khurshid from the position of a Law Minister to become the External Affairs Minister which comes close on the heels of the allegations leveled by the IAC activist-turned-politician against Union Law Minister that the latter embezzled funds. Kamal Nath who was also involved in a few controversial matters was promoted to the Parliamentary Affairs from the urban development ministry.

The reshuffle showed the indifferent attitude of Congress to the scams that were revealed recently. Only one minister who was involved in the Coal Gate Scam, Subodh Kant Sahay, was ousted from power.

(AW- Anil)