In a surprise move, the Centre on Tuesday reconstituted the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Telangana, reducing the number of ministers from 10 to six, and bringing in top Congress leaders who are known for their firefighting skills.
Of the 10, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Finance Minister P. Chidambaram have been retained. The new entrants are Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister M. Veerappa Moily and Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh.
V. Narayanasamy, Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, who was part of the GoM, will now be a ‘special invitee’ to the new GoM.
The Ministers not in the revised GoM are Human Resource Development Minister M. Pallam Raju, Law Minister Kapil Sibal, Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat, Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath, Road Transport Minister Oscar Fernandes, Power Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.