Describing his Council of Ministers as a mixture of experience and energy,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today held out hope for party veterans who could not find a place in the Cabinet,among them Arjun Singh,H R Bhardwaj and Shivraj Patil. Public service has several avenues where their experience can be used, the Prime Minister told reporters at Rashtrapati Bhavan after another 59 ministers took the oath of office. Although he did not elaborate,Congress sources said pointed out that terms of 10 Governors were set to lapse in July and the Cabinet dropouts could be considered for Raj Bhavan assignments. The Opposition BJP and UPAs former allies including the Left parties,SP,BSP,LJP and RJD stayed away from the second round of swearing-in. During the May 22 swearing-in ceremony,there was shortage of chairs for guests but today many remained unoccupied in Ashoka Hall Leader of Opposition L K Advani,who attended the first ceremony,was missing today. Ditto for CPMs Sitaram Yechury,RJDs Lalu Prasad Yadav and LJPs Ram Vilas Paswan. Fourteen Cabinet Ministers,seven Ministers of State (with Independent charge) and 38 Ministers of State took the oath of office today. The total strength of the Council of Ministers is now 79 and,as Singh said,his team was ready to get going. Asked about no representation for Uttar Pradesh in the Cabinet,Singh said there were several considerations like ability of candidates and availability of talent that played a role. He skirted queries on disinvestment in public sector undertakings,stating that these issues would be tackled by the Finance Minister in the Budget. We do want the economy to regain momentum and at the same time fiscal prudence will be kept in mind, he said,adding that the governments broad strategy would be obvious in the Presidents Address and the Budget. AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi said the entry of young faces was his imprint on the new Council of Ministers. On his reluctance to join the Cabinet,he said he believed in doing one job at a time. I believe in doing one job and doing it well. I dont believe in doing six jobs because I am not in the habit of doing a job if I cant do justice, he said. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi endorsed his decision saying what he is doing is more than just sitting in a Cabinet meeting. Eleven in the Cabinet opted for solemnly affirm and not swear in the name of god while taking the oath of office and secrecy: Sharad Pawar,A K Antony,P Chidambaram,Sushilkumar Shinde,M Veerappa Moily,S Jaipal Reddy,C P Joshi (all took oath on May 22),M K Azhagiri,Dayanidhi Maran,A Raja and Mallikarjun Kharge. Four of the seven Ministers of State with Independent did likewise Prithviraj Chavan,Sriprakash Jaiswal,Salman Khursheed and Jairam Ramesh. Only five of the 38 MoS followed four from the DMK and M M Pallam Raju. TMC MP Sultan Ahmed took the oath in the name of Allah. There was applause for the youngest minister in the Council of Ministers,Agatha Sangma,28,who took the oath in Hindi. Most young ministers Jyotiraditya Scindia,Sachin Pilot,R P N Singh,Arun Yadav and Jitin Prasada also chose to take the oath in Hindi. While TMC ministers were clad in traditional dhoti-kurta and shawl,DMK MP and actor Napoleon turned up in jeans and kurta. Sachin Pilot donned a traditional headgear. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhis son M K Stalin was chatting with Rahul Gandhi who was sitting next to him. Jhansi MP Pradeep Jain touched Sonia Gandhis feet before taking the oath of office. And at the high tea that followed,Shashi Tharoor,appointed MoS,thanked the PM: Manmohanji. It is an honour to work under you. The final line-up The wait is over. Twelve days after results,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh finally has a Cabinet. A list of Cabinet and junior ministers: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Home P Chidambaram • Ajay Maken • Mullappally Ramachandran Finance Pranab Mukherjee • Namo Narain Meena • S S Palanimanickam Defence A K Antony • M M Pallam Raju External Affairs S M Krishna • Preneet Kaur • Shashi Tharoor Railways Mamata Banerjee • E Ahamed • K H Muniyappa Agriculture,Food & Civil Supplies,Consumer Affairs Sharad Pawar • Prof K V Thomas Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal • D Purandeswari Information and Broadcasting Ambika Soni • Mohan Jatua • Dr S Jagathrakshakan Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad • Dinesh Trivedi • S Gandhiselvan Law and Justice M Verappa Moily Road Transport & Highways Kamal Nath • Mahadev S Khandela • R P N Singh Steel Virbhadra Singh • A Sai Prathap Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises Vilasrao Deshmukh • Pratik Prakashbapu Patil Power Sushil Kumar Shinde • Bharatsinh Solanki New & Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah Urban Development S Jaipal Reddy • Saugata Ray Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi Water Resources Meira Kumar • Vincent Pala Textiles Dayanidhi Maran • Panabaka Lakshmi Communications & Information Technology A Raja • Gurudas Kamat • Sachin Pilot Commerce & Industry Anand Sharma • Jyotiraditya Scindia Petroleum & Natural Gas Murli Deora • Jitin Prasad Labour & Employment Mallikarjun Kharge • Harish Rawat Mines and Doner B K Handique Rural Development,panchayati raj (Additional charge) C P Joshi • Sisir Adhikari • Agatha Sangma • Pradeep Jain Panchayati Raj C P Joshi Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja Tourism Kumari Selja • Sultan Ahmed Food Processing Industries Subodh Kant Sahay Youth Affairs & Sports M S Gill • Arun Yadav Shipping G K Vasan • Mukul Roy Parliamentary Affairs Pawan Kumar Bansal • Prithviraj Chavan Social Justice & Empowerment Mukul Wasnik • V Narayanasamy • D Napoleon Tribal Affairs Kantilal Bhuria • Tusharbhai Chaudhary Chemicals & Fertilisers M K Azhagiri • Srikant Jena MoS (Independent) Civil Aviation Praful Patel Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Prithviraj Chavan *Also MoS in Prime Ministers Office,Ministry of Personnel,Public Grievances and Pensions,and Parliamentary Affairs Statistics & Programme Implementation,Coal (Additional charge) Sriprakash Jaiswal Corporate AffairS,Minority Affairs (Additional charge) Salman Khursheed Micro,Small & Medium Enterprises Dinsha J Patel Women & Child Development Krishna Tirath Environment & Forests Jairam Ramesh
