Ahead of reshuffle in Cabinet, SM Krishna resigns
New Delhi: Ahead of the reshuffle of the Union Cabinet on Sunday, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna resigned on Friday.
The 80-year-old leader from Karnataka is believed to have sent his resignation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the afternoon, sources said.
The resignation is also a clear indication that the Union Council of Ministers is set for a revamp on Sunday with the induction of new faces considered close to Rahul Gandhi and elevation of some young ministers of state.
Whether Gandhi himself would join the government or not was still a matter of speculation though sources say that sometime back he was inclined towards such a possibility.
The possible names of the successors in the External Affairs Ministry include Commerce Minister Anand Sharma.
Actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi may be inducted into the ministry as a reward for his help in ensuring the stability of Congress government in Andhra Pradesh with support of his 18 MLAs.
There have been berths vacated by DMK representatives A Raja and Dayanidhi Maran in the last two years after their names cropped in the 2G scam. However, DMK President M Karunanidhi had recently made clear that his party will not like to reclaim their lost berths.
On Thursday also Minister of State in the PMO V Narayanasamy met Karunanidhi at his residence in Chennai when DMK leader is believed to have stuck to his position.
Congress sources said that the reshuffle and induction could be largely from the party. There is also speculation that some young faces, considered close to Rahul, like Manicka Tagore and Meenakshi Natarajan could be inducted into the council of ministers.
