Agencies New Delhi, December 21, 2013
In a shake up ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan resigned on Saturday from the Union council of ministers and more may be in line for being drafted into party work.
President Pranab Mukherjee 'as advised by the prime minister has accepted the resignation of Jayanthi Natarajan, minister of state (independent charge) for environment and forests, from the council of ministers with immediate effect', said a statement from the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
It also said oil minister M Veerappa Moily will hold additional charge of the environment ministry.
Natarajan, a senior member of Rajya Sabha in her third term, hails from Tamil Nadu and was brought into the ministry two years ago.
Sources said Natarajan, who has, of late, been more visible on television channels defending the party, may be drafted for organisation work.
Rahul Gandhi has promised to 'learn' lessons from the party's drubbing in the recent assembly elections. Political analysts believe the Congress will declare him as its prime ministerial candidate to take on BJP leader Narendra Modi. The country is due to hold general elections by May 2014, and the government could ask more high-ranking officials to redirect their efforts toward campaigning.
Names doing the rounds for the imminent shake-up are Jairam Ramesh (rural development), Sachin Pilot (corporate affairs) and Jitender Singh Bhanwar (MoS-defence).
In the wake of the rout in Rajasthan assembly elections, Pilot's name is being talked about as a possible state party chief.
There is also talk of a reshuffle in the AICC in which some general secretaries may be dropped. Bhanwar, considered close to Gandhi, is a possible candidate for general secretary-ship in the AICC. He had earlier been an AICC secretary.
Posted by Unknown on Saturday, December 21, 2013 - Rating: 4.5
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