New Delhi, Oct 28: Salman Khurshid was India's new external affairs minister as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday effected a major revamp of his council of ministers, inducting 22 faces, including seven of cabinet rank, in what is said to be the last major ministerial shuffle before the 2014 general elections.
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi did not join the government - leaving the field open for him to play a larger role in the party.
Several portfolios were changed, some new faces introduced, some elevated to cabinet rank and at least one old hand - Shashi Tharoor - was back in what is possibly UPA II's last facelift - an exercise that jettisoned tainted ministers like Subodh Kant Sahay and roped veterans like Ambika Soni and S.M. Krishna back into the party organisation to gear up for the 2014 electoral battle.
