Indian PM reshuffles Cabinet as polls loom

INDIA: India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reshuffled his cabinet Sunday adding seven new junior ministers but leaving key portfolios unchanged ahead of mid-2009 elections.

Among the new faces is Jyotiraditya Scindia, the 37-year-old scion of a royal family from central Gwalior region and son of late ex-minister Madhavrao Scindia. Another new name is former election panel chief and ex-bureaucrat M.S. Gill, a Sikh from northern Punjab state who has been given charge of the sports and youth affairs ministry.

The reshuffle comes as Singh’s Congress-led left-leaning government is entering the final phase of its five-year tenure.

Speaking to reporters after a swearing-in ceremony at the presidential palace, ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi said she had been keen to include her son Rahul Gandhi in the cabinet.

India Monday, AFP