Tariq Anwar to be sworn in as Union Minister: NCP

NEW DELHI: NCP leader Tariq Anwar will take oath as a Union Minister when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reshuffles his Council of Ministers tomorrow.

This was disclosed by NCP General Secretary D P Tripathi. Anwar is expected to replace Agatha Sangma as the NCP representative in the Union Council of Ministers, party sources said.

The NCP leader is likely to be made Minister of State for Agriculture, working directly under Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, who is also the NCP chief.

Anwar is a two-time Rajya Sabha member and was a four-term member of Lok Sabha from Katihar in Bihar.

Agatha had been asked to tender her resignation as minister by the NCP leadership in the wake of her father P A Sangma's unsuccessful bid in the Presidential election.

Sangma was the Opposition-backed candidate against the UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee in the July 19 Presidential election. NCP is a key partner in the UPA.

Anwar will be the only representative from the UPA allies to be sworn in as a minister as DMK has ruled out nominating its members for the vacancies in the Union Cabinet.

A Raja and Dayanidhi Maran had to quit as Telecom and Textiles Ministers respectively in the wake of their names figuring in the 2G spectrum allocation scam.

Trinamool Congress, another key partner in the UPA, walked out of the ruling alliance following sharp differences on its economic policies.