New Delhi, May 16 (Inditop) With the electoral verdict clear, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance will next turn its attention to government formation and there is strong likelihood that young parliamentarians will find a place in the council of ministers, said party sources.
“The Congress president Sonia Gandhi has already promised that young MPs who have worked hard and proved themselves will be included in the cabinet this time,” said a senior party leader.
After a spectacular showing in the staggered Lok Sabha election, key ministries including finance, defence, external affairs and home will be retained by the Congress.
As a new government must be formed by June 2, the party’s leadership is meeting to review its performance that will be followed up a cabinet meeting to be presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Among the Congress veterans who will find their way back into government will be Pranab Mukherjee, P. Chidambaram, Kamal Nath, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Hans Raj Bhardwaj, A.K. Antony, Kapil Sibal, Jairam Ramesh, Vayalar Ravi, Anand Sharma, Sushil Kumar Shinde and S. Jaipal Reddy.
According to party insiders, among the Young Turks who are likely to figure in Manmohan Singh’s cabinet will be Jyotiraditya Scindia, Milind Deora, Sachin Pilot and Jitin Prasada.
Another possible inclusion could be former UN under-secretary general Sashi Tharoor who created history by winning the Lok Sabha seat from the Kerala capital, Thiruvanathapuram.
Manmohan Singh said he would try to persuade Congress general secretary, Rahul Gandhi, to join the cabinet after the ruling Congress-led coalition’s win in the election.
“It is my wish that he should be in the cabinet. But I will have to persuade him,” the prime minister told reporters.
Rewarding cabinet berths for the Congress party’s allies – the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, the DMK in Tamil Nadu and the Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra – will also be discussed by the party leadership.