Sonia, Manmohan finalise reshuffle list

United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Monday met Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to discuss the much-awaited cabinet reshuffle. The meeting, the fourth between the two leaders, lasted 45 minutes.

Sources say that the swearing-in of new ministers will happen either on Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning, as Sonia Gandhi will be away from New Delhi for a day.

During their meeting, Sonia and Dr Singh have been deliberating upon induction of new faces in the Cabinet, dropping of the old ones, promotions from the minister of state rank to Cabinet. It is believed that the induction of new faces in the Union council will help in the monsoon session of Parliament passing off peacefully.

Dr Singh, who is currently busy with his trusted principal secretary TKA Nair over the reshuffle nitty-gritty, is likely to meet the President on Monday evening to discuss the monsoon session of Parliament and also the reshuffle. The Prime Minister's Office is expected to finalise a list of possible new faces by then.

The PMO, which is liaising with the President's secretariat and the Cabinet secretariat, is likely to telephone the probables to be in New Delhi by 3 pm on Tuesday, within a timeframe that will enable to reach the capital in time.

Cabinet expansion is a laborious exercise, commented a senior official, and he is right. The behind-the-scenes action goes like this:

Soon after an alert is received about the reshuffle, the President's secretariat plunges into crisis management mode. First and foremost is to get the swearing-in ceremony invitations printed and distributed. This is the task for the President's estate, which has a printing press inside Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The second task is to ensure six different varieties of snacks, at least 250-300 of each, for the event. The household unit of the President's estate outsources sweets from a well known shop.

The third and most important task is to switch on a mega transformer to get the airconditioned unit going, lest the VIPs present at the ceremony stew. It takes three to four hours to start the system, and it can't be done too early or too late.

The fourth task is to organise 250 chairs in the Ashoka Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan, in time for the event.

The military secretary coordinates the entire exercise, which begins once the PMO sends a communication for

the swearing-in ceremony.

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