The buzz about an impending reshuffle became louder with External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna resigning from the Cabinet.
Reports said the Prime Minister had accepted his resignation.
Later, hectic parleys were on as the Prime Minister met Congress President Sonia Gandhi presumably to discuss the reshuffle.
The much-awaited Cabinet reshuffle is being seen as a crucial makeover by the scam-ridden UPA Government, which is preparing to face the general elections in 2014.
Krishna, 80, the former Chief Minister of Karnataka, was already under cloud for being named for a probe by the Lokayukta on allegations of irregularities in the Bangalore-Mysore Expressway project.
Sources said by resigning, Krishna probably has pre-empted his being dropped in the impending reshuffle and may be given a larger role in Karnataka, where elections are due in 2013.
A reshuffle has been due for long as there are many vacancies that need to be filled, such as Agatha Sangma, three Trinamool Ministers – Mukul Roy, Saugata Roy and Sudip Bandopadhyay – Vilasrao Deshmukh, who passed away, and Virbhadra Singh, who quit following allegations of corruption.
‘Rahul stamp’
Speculations also rose about the ‘Rahul stamp’ on the reshuffle, with some observers even suggesting that not only his favoured list of ‘younger’ faces but the Gandhi family scion himself may be inducted into the Cabinet.
In yet another indication of a reshuffle, Congress leader and Union Minister V. Narayansamy met DMK supremo M. Karunanidhi in Chennai on Friday. DMK, with 18 MPs, is the largest ally of the United Progressive Alliance, after the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress withdrew its support in July.
However, Karunanidhi had earlier expressed his party’s desire not to reclaim the seats left vacant by former Ministers, A. Raja, and Dayanidhi Maran.