The much-awaited Cabinet reshuffle may take place soon if things go as per schedule, according to a senior official of the prime minister's office
Talking to rediff.com on Friday evening, the official said, "It is possible that the cabinet reshuffle may take place soon. It could be either on January 29 in the forenoon or 30th January."
S M Khan, press secretary to President A P J Abdul Kalam, said that so far there had been no request from the prime minister's office for time to discuss the Cabinet reshuffle.
With Parliament session being advanced to February 16 and President A P J Abdul Kalam leaving on a three-nation 10-day foreign tour on January 31, Sunday was the likely day for carrying out the Cabinet expansion and reshuffle exercise.
As the President returns from Seoul on February nine, new ministers will hardly have time to prepare themselves for the three-month budget session if the expansion is undertaken then.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held a meeting with Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday amid speculation of a possible expansion-cum-reshuffle of the Union Cabinet on Sunday. Sonia drove to the Prime Minister's official residence accompanied by her political secretary Ahmad Patel and official sources said that Dr Singh had lined up a number of meetings during the day.
Sources indicated that the exercise could be mainly to fill existing vacancies.
There are about half a dozen vacancies in the Manmohan Singh ministry arising from the resignation of K Natwar Singh, deaths of P M Sayeed and Sunil Dutt, shifting of Ghulam Nabi Azad as Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and K Rahman Khan becoming Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
Another vacancy was created by the resignation of Jagdish Tytler in the wake of the Nanavati Commission's report on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Prime Minister's earlier attempts to reshuffle and expand his ministry had to be put off for a variety of reasons, leaving ministerial hopefuls waiting in the wings.
Prithviraj Chavan may be moved out of the prime minister's office and given an independent charge of a ministry. At the moment, there are more then one dozen vacancies in the Union Cabinet and some of the ministers are holding additional charge.
When asked, Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma said he was not aware of any development so far but did not rule out the possibility of a Cabinet reshuffle.
With Agency Inputs
