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Anant Geete is new power minister

BS Political Bureau in New Delhi

Minister of State for Finance Anant Geete was on Monday appointed Union power minister. He replaced Suresh Prabhu, who resigned following a directive from Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray.

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee inducted Vikram Verma, Rajya Sabha member and a senior BJP leader from Madhya Pradesh, into the Cabinet to replace Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Uma Bharti, who will take charge as coal and mines minister.

Verma, who served a long stint as leader of the Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, is learnt to have declined the post of minister of state. Considered close to Vajpayee, Verma's induction is seen as an attempt to give Madhya Pradesh an adequate representation in the Cabinet.

Shiv Sena leader Anandrao V Adsul was also appointed as minister of state in the ministry of finance and company affairs in place of Geete.

These ministers were administered the oath of office and secrecy by President A P J Abdul Kalam at a brief ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The move to strengthen the BJP's state units in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan by effecting some changes in the portfolios faced a roadblock.

Uma Bharti successfully thwarted the move to shift her Madhya Pradesh as state BJP chief.

Minister of State for Personnel Vasundhara Raje Scindia also stalled the attempt to appoint her as the Rajasthan unit chief of the BJP.

What really surprised the top leadership is lobbying by her for the coveted post of the civil aviation ministry - a post occupied by her loyalist Shahnwaz Hussain.

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