Girija Vyas, Oscar Fernandes, Sisram Ola Sworn-In

The last Cabinet Reshuffle before the 2014 polls took place today with four Cabinet Ministers and four MoS taking the oath. Senior Congress leaders Girija Vyas, Oscar Fernandes and Sisram Ola were sworn-in as the Cabinet Ministers.

Contrary to the expectations, the Ministers who took the oath, were older in age. The youth power was given importance in the organisation, but Sonia and Manmohan chose to reward the old horses for their loyalty, as they may not get a chance to form the government at the centre after 2014 polls.

KS Rao from Andhra Pradesh was the other Minister, who got the Cabinet rank. Girija Vyas got the portfolio of Housing, Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation. Sisram Ola got Labour & Employment. KS Rao got Textiles. Oscar Fernandes was given the charge of Road and Highways. Mallikarjun Kharge will be the new Railway Minister of India.

The Ministers of State (MoS) who took the oath, included Manikrao Gavit (Social Justice & Empowerment), Santosh Chowdhury (Health & Family Welfare), JD Seelam (Finance) and EMS Natchiappan (Commerce & Industries). Srikant Jena, who was neglected time and again, failed to get the Cabinet berth. He is the MoS (Independent) for Statistics and Programme Implementation.