Speculation of an imminentCabinet reshuffle gained fresh momentum today with PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhimeeting President Pranab Mukherjee separately.
The end of 'pitr paksh', considered an inauspiciousperiod by Hindus, and the beginning of the navaratra season,set abuzz reports that a change in the government was on thecards, possibly this week.
There was no official word on what transpired at themeetings which fuelled fresh speculation about the changes inthe Council of Ministers that could take place beforeMukherjee leaves on Oct 20 for his ancestral home in Miriti inWest Bengal for Durga Puja festivities.
The Prime Minister's meeting for an hour came in themorning before he left for Hyderabad on a day's visit, whileGandhi met Mukherjee in the evening for 40 minutes.
There was no certainty over whether Rahul Gandhi, whois also likely to meet Mukherjee tomorrow, would enter thegovernment in the face of strong demands from the party men toassume a "larger" role.
There has been speculation about reshuffle in theCabinet for quite some time now, especially after the exit ofTrinamool Congress ministers both at the levels of Cabinet andMinisters of State levels.
There have been berths vacated by DMK representatives ARaja and Dayanidhi Maran in the last two years after theirnames cropped in the 2G scam. However, DMK President MKarunanidhi has recently made clear that his party will notnot like to reclaim their lost berths.
Congress sources said that the reshuffle and inductioncould be largely from the party. There is speculation thatsome young faces, considered close to Rahul, like ManickaTagore and Meenakshi Natarajan could be inducted into thecouncil of ministers.
Some among the young ministers like Sachin Pilot, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Jitin Prasada may get promoted toCabinet rank or get independent charge as Minister of State.
The exercise could see some of the ministers holdingcharges of two ministries losing one of the portfolios.
HRD Minister Kapil Sibal (Telecom), Road and TransportMinister C P Joshi (Railways), Law Minister Salman Khurshid(Minority Affairs) and Corporate Affairs Affairs Minister MVeerappa Moily (Power) and Overseas Indian Affairs MinisterVayalar Ravi (MSME, S and T and Earth Sciences).
With six ministers from TMC leaving, two to threeCongress leaders from West Bengal are expected to beaccommodated. The names of Deepa Dashmunshi and AdhirChoudhury, known detractors of TMC chief Mamata Banerjee andWest Bengal PCC chief Pradeep Bhatacharjee are doing therounds.
A reshuffle of the AICC secretariat is also on thecards and Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi is expected to get a largerresponsibility in the organisation.
With the death of Vilasrao Deshmukh, there is a vacancyfor a cabinet minister from Maharashtra.
Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahai and Coal MinisterSriprakash Jaisawal have come under attack from the Oppositionon the coal block allocation issue.
Changes in the government and the party could be takingplace in tandem as there is a possibility that some of theministers would be drafted for party work, sources said.
They said the exercise could be a major affair as theteam would be leading the party in the next Lok Sabhapolls.
