The Hindu Business Line : Manmohan Singh's team takes charge — 29 of Cabinet rank in 68-member Ministry

DR Manmohan Singh was today formally sworn in as India's 13th Prime Minister, heading a Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government. Dr Singh and 67 other Ministers were administered oath of office and secrecy by the President, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, at a simple ceremony at the Ashoka Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

Of the 68 Ministers (including Dr Singh), as many as 29 are of Cabinet rank, along with 10 other Ministers of State holding Independent Charge. The remaining 29 are ordinary Ministers of State.

Most of the Cabinet-rank Ministers are known faces and whose names were already doing the rounds. These include Mr Pranab Mukherjee (Congress), Mr Sharad Pawar (Nationalist Congress Party), Mr Arjun Singh (Congress), Mr Natwar Singh (Congress), Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav (Rashtriya Janata Dal), Mr Ram Vilas Paswan (Lok Jansakthi Party), Mr P. Chidambaram (Congress), Mr Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (RJD), Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad (Congress), Mr Kamal Nath (Congress), Mr Mani Shankar Aiyer (Congress), Mr Dayanidhi Maran (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam), Mr T.R. Baalu (DMK), Mr Shibu Soren (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha), Mr Jaipal Reddy (Congress) and Mr Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi (Congress).

The Cabinet also has some lesser-known faces like Mr P.R. Keindya (Congress), Mr Mahavir Prasad (the sole Congress representative from Uttar Pradesh) and Mr Sis Ram Ola (a Congressman, who was a former Minister in the United Front Government).

The surprise entries are Mr Shivraj Patil and Mr P.M. Sayeed (both Congress veterans who lost their seats in the recent elections) and Mr H.R. Bharadwaj (a Congress Rajya Sabha member, tipped to be given the Law portfolio). Other notable inclusions are the Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief, Mr Chandrashekhar Rao, the veteran film star Mr Sunil Dutt (Congress), former Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr Shankar Sinh Vaghela (Congress) and Mr A. Raja (DMK). The Pattali Makkal Katchi is represented by Dr A. Ramdoss, son of the party founder, Dr S. Ramdoss. Ms Meira Kumar is the sole woman in the Cabinet.

While the portfolios of the individual Cabinet-rank Ministers is yet to be announced, the general perception is that Mr Pawar will hold charge of both Agriculture and Food, while Mr Mukherjee, Mr Natwar Singh, Mr Patil, Mr Chidambaram, Mr Yadav and Mr Bharadwaj will get Home, External Affairs, Defence, Commerce, Railways and Law, respectively. Dr Singh is expected to also keep the Finance portfolio.

The 10 Ministers of State with Independent Charge include Mr Praful Patel (NCP), Mr Kapil Sibal (Congress), Mr Jagdish Tytler (Congress), Mr Prem Chand Gupta (RJD), Mr Oscar Fernandes (Congress), Mr Vilas Muttemwar (Congress), Mr Subodh Kant Sahay (Congress) and two women - Ms Renuka Chowdhury and Ms Selja (both Congress).

Prominent among the Ministers of State, who took oath today, were Mr E. Ahmad (Indian Union Muslim League and sole representative from Kerala), Mr Suresh Pachauri (Congress), Mr Prithviraj Chavan (Congress), Mr Taslimuddin (RJD) and Ms Subbalakshmi Jagadeesan (DMK).

Out of the 68 Ministers, the Congress accounts for 43 (which includes Mr Chidambaram), followed by RJD (eight), DMK (six), NCP (three) and PMK (two). All other parties representing the coalition - Lok Jansakthi, IUML, TRS and JMM - have just one representative each.