A comprehensive shake-up of the government that had the imprimatur of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi was effected today, with the induction of 22 new ministers and changes in the portfolios of several others. The Rahul Gandhi touch was missing in the rejig: his nominees were promoted but no aditional young MPs from his stable were inducted into the government.

The reshuffle seemed to have a twin objective: to give the government the image of being effective and reform-oriented; and to beef up the presence of those states in the union government where the Congress is politically powerful. So Minister for Petroleum, Jaipal Reddy was not just removed from this important ministry but was also demoted (he now has the portfolio of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences).

Reddy believes he has fallen a victim to corporate lobbying and has told friends he may quit the government altogether. On the other hand it is the government’s worst kept secret that he was a reluctant participant in the government’s decision to impose caps on domestic LPG cylinders and had been seeking to roll these back at least partially. He has been replaced by Minister for Corporate Affairs, Veerappa Moily, seen as a more practical politician.

Similarly, the crucial Railways portfolio has gone to former Water Resources Minister Pawan Bansal, who is expected to take large scale and unpopular steps to turn railway finances around. Highways Minister CP Joshi had been given temporary charge of railways after the Trinamool Congress pulled its nominee out of the government and he returns to where he was.

Politically, Andhra Pradesh which contributes 33 out of 42 Lok Sabha seats to the kitty of Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in the Lok Sabha, Kerala and Rajasthan have got more nominees in the council of ministers than before.

Actor-turned politician Chiranjeevi, whose decision to merge his party, the Praja Rajyam, helped stabilise the Andhra Pradesh government led by the Congress, has been waiting for a berth in the council of ministers since 2011. With his 18 MLAs, Chiranjeevi saved the day for the Congress in AP which would have lost the government in the wake of the rebellion mounted by the pro-JaganMohan Reddy elements had Chiranjeevi not come to its rescue.

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