Montek non-committal on becoming FM in new government

NEW DELHI: Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, who has just resigned, on Monday remained non-committal on his prospects of becoming Finance Minister while describing reports on this as "speculation".

"I am not making any comments on these sorts of press speculation," he said when asked whether he could be taking over as Finance Minister in the new government.

Ahluwalia, however, expressed satisfaction at the election results for the 15th Lok Sabha, which gave a mandate in favour of the Congress-led UPA.

"I am delighted at the election results. It is a very strong and firm mandate. Everybody I have seen or talked to is absolutely delighted. I share that feeling," he said.

With the UPA set to assume power, there are reports in the media that Ahluwalia, who played a key role in formulating economic policies of the outgoing government, is being considered for the post of Finance Minister.

The other names doing the rounds for heading the Finance Ministry are C Rangarajan, former Reserve Bank Governor and now member of the Rajya Sabha, and Kamal Nath, Commerce Minister in the outgoing government.

After the then Finance Minister P Chidambaram was shifted to the Home Ministry, the important ministry was being looked after by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who presented the interim budget in February on behalf of the government.