Time may be ripe for Cabinet expansion

NEW DELHI: An expansion of the Union Cabinet could be on the cards in view of the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh holding charge of a number of portfolios, including finance.

Mr Singh���s meeting with President Pratibha Patil on Tuesday triggered speculation on Cabinet inductions, even as a Rashtrapati Bhawan spokesman said that the PM briefed Ms Patil on the recent happenings in Mumbai, the internal security situation and on the Parliament session beginning Wednesday.

The finance ministry was vacated by Mr P Chidamabaram in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks. He moved to the home ministry, which was held by Mr Shivraj Patil, and the PM took on Mr Chidambaram���s additional charge himself as a former finance minister. However, lobbying by senior Congress leaders over the last few days showed that Mr Singh might want to divest some of his responsibilities ahead of the coming Lok Sabha polls.

The names doing the rounds for the FM���s post are those of former Karnataka chief minister S M Krishna, former RBI governor C Rangarajan, Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Union ministers Kapil Sibal and Kamal Nath. There were indications that Congress wanted a political person in the finance ministry.