New Delhi: A wave of cheer and jubilation was witnessed among supporters of Members of Parliament on Thursday as Cabinet expansion witnessed induction of 59 ministers to Prime Minister's council of ministers at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Many Congress party workers were delighted to see Dr. Singh finally managing to bring the UPA's key allies to join the government. Though portfolios were to be allocated to the new ministers in the evening, but all were enjoying together. Dinesh Trivedi of regional Trinamool Congress, who was sworn-in as Minister of State expressed gratitude towards his party chief Mamata Banerjee and people. "I wish to thank god and to people who made us reach till here. And would also like to thank our leader Mamata Banerjee," said Trivedi. Supporters of the Abdullahs' National Conference party danced and burst crackers in Srinagar , for the party patron Farooq Abdullah who sworn-in as a Cabinet minister in the council of ministers of prime minister on Thursday. "By the grace of God people are happy as Dr. Sahab (Farooq Abdullah) has got berth in cabinet," said Irfan Ahmad Shah, Youth President of National Conference party (NC). Moreover, Indian industry expressed happiness at the formation of the new cabinet that includes leaders from various parts of country and of varied age groups. "Outcome looks quite balanced to me. There'll always be some pluses and minuses. But I think ......one the whole inclusion effort of different states, different languages, different castes, different religious... different age groups, young and old, experienced beginners. I think it's a very interesting cabinet," said Amit Mitra, General Secretary, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). Singh's new council of minister includes 59 from Congress party and 19 from five of its allies-- seven each from regional DMK and Trinamool Congress, three from Nationalist Congress Party and one each from Muslim League and National Conference. Singh now has three ministers from the Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam, (DMK) party and one from the National Conference party in his cabinet, boosting the stability of the coalition.

      It's worth remembering that the Karunanidhi-led DMK had previously refused to join the government after differences over ministerial posts. He offered outside support of its 18 lawmakers to the coalition government. In the absence of Left parties, which prevented the Congress-led UPA from taking many vital decisions, the Dr. Singh led govt. can now go ahead to implement various developmental schemes what serve the country's interest in the best manner. Unfettered by their former leftist allies, Congress is also expected to push reforms such as raising the foreign investment limit in insurance and opening up the pension sector. Besides the slowdown, Singh's second term will face an array of challenges such as fraught relations with old rival Pakistan after the Mumbai attacks and a potential showdown with wealthier countries at the Doha world trade talks.

Supporters of new ministers celebrating the occasion of Cabinet expansion in New Delhi on Thursday

      The grand swearing-in ceremony, which started around 11:30 a.m., took place in the Ashoka Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan. Virbhadra Singh, Vilasrao Deshmukh, Farooq Abdullah, Dayanidhi Maran, A Raja, Mallikarjun Kharge, Kumari Selja, Subodh Kant Sahay, Dr. M S Gill, G K Vasan, Pawan Kumar Bansal, Mukul Wasnik, Kantilal Bhuria and M K Azhagiri, took oath as Cabinet ministers. Praful Patel, Prithviraj Chavan, Sriprakash Jaiswal, Salman Khursheed, Dinsha Patel, Jairam Ramesh, Krishna Tirath sworn-in as MoS with Independent charge. E Ahamed, V Narayanasamy, Srikant Jena, Mullappally Ramachandran, D Purandeswari, Panabaka Lakshmi, Ajay Maken, K H Muniyappa, Namo Narain Meena, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jitin Prasada, A Sai Prathap, Gurudas Kamat, M M Pallam Raju, Mahadev Khandela, Harish Rawat, K V Thomas, Saugata Ray, Dinesh Trivedi, Shishir Adhikari, Sultan Ahmed, Mukul Roy, Mohan Jatua, S S Palanimanickam, D Napoleon, S Jagathrakshakan, S Gandhiselvan, Preneet Kaur, Sachin Pilot, Shashi Tharoor, Bharatsinh Solanki, Tusharbhai Chaudhary, Arun Yadav, Prateek Prakash Patil, R P N Singh, Vincent Pala, Pradeep Jain and Agatha Sangma took oath as MoS. In the first round of swearing-in on Friday, only 19 ministers were inducted along with the Prime Minister. Portfolios have been allocated to only six ministers.
- May 28, 2009