The Union cabinet may undergo a reshuffle in the third week of this month, say political sources.
A day after Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar urged Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to seek a change in his portfolios as he cannot cope with the burden, the minister on Tuesday refused to clarify any further, even as speculation is rife of a possible Cabinet reshuffle.
Sources said, the Cabinet reshuffle is likely to take place between July 10-15. The PM will meet Sharad Pawar again before taking a decision. Pawar is believed to be keen on retaining the agriculture portfolio.
Speculation is doing the rounds over reshuffling of the telecom portfolio, after finance minister Pranab Mukherjee met DMK supremo Karunanidhi. Sources said that A Raja could be moved out of ministry, as the Congress will be testing waters with the DMK, if a reshuffle in the telecom portfolio takes place, a media report says.
Meanwhile, sources also added that Ajit Singh and Ram Vilas Paswan may be inducted into the Cabinet, in order to give more weight to leaders from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Bihar is going to the assembly polls soon.
Moreover, there are several vacancies and several ministers are reported to be under-performing. After Shashi Tharoor quit a few months ago over the IPL controversy, no fresh appointment was made in the foreign office. There are hints about minister for chemicals M K Alagiri quitting to join Tamil Nadu politics full time before the state assembly elections, says another media report.
