Aiyar loses Sports to M S Gill, seven new faces include Prasada, Scindia

They were among the seven Ministers of State, including one with independent charge, who were administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Pratibha Patil at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

In the much-awaited reshuffle and expansion, the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry, held by P R Dasmunsi, was given to Vyalar Ravi while Mani Shankar Aiyar was stripped of Sports & Youth Affairs that was given to M S Gill, the surprise choice. A former Chief Election Commissioner, Gill, who is a Rajya Sabha MP, has been made MoS with independent charge. Six other ministers were dropped.

Scindia and Jitin were given the portfolios of Communications & Information Technology, and Steel respectively. The other four MoS inducted are V Narayanasamy (Puducherry), Rameshwar Oraon (Jharkhand), Santosh Bagrodia (Rajasthan) and Raghunath Jha (Bihar). Except Jha who is from the RJD, all others are from the Congress.

“I would have liked him to be a part of this young team but he feels very strongly that he has been given responsibility of the Youth Congress and so he wouldn’t be able to do justice to both. That is why he isn’t here (at the ceremony),” Sonia told reporters. Only a handful of Cabinet Ministers attended the ceremony while Opposition parties stayed away from it. From among the Left allies, only CPM MP Sitaram Yechury turned up. RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav too was missing.

The UPA leadership apparently chose to prefer Rajya Sabha MP from Rajasthan Santosh Bagrodia to Dausa MP Sachin Pilot whose popular base, especially among Gurjar community, failed to make it to the criteria list. Bagrodia, who is said to be “very resourceful” and has been a fundraiser for the party, was given Coal portfolio.

“We all want certain things, but it is not possible all the time,” said Sonia Gandhi, adding there was “no gunjayeesh (scope)” for accommodating any other young MPs.

“He is a very important leader of the Congress,” said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in response to a query about Rahul Gandhi’s role in the government.

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