Patel, Khursheed, Jaiswal promoted to cabinet

The much-talked about reshuffle of the Union Council of Ministers happened on Wednesday. Praful Patel, Sriprakash Jaiswal and Salman Khurshid were elevated as Cabinet ministers. The following is the reshuffled council of ministers of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, which has three ministers elevated to Cabinet rank:
Cabinet ministers:
1. Praful Patel : Heavy industries and public enterprises
2. Sriprakash Jaiswal : Coal
3. Salman Khursheed : Water resources and additional charge of minority affairs
Minister of state (independent charge):
1. Ajay Maken : Youth affairs and sports
2. Beni Prasad Verma : Steel
3. K.V. Thomas: Consumer affairs, food and public distribution
Ministers of state:
1. Ashwani Kumar : Planning and parliamentary affairs, science and technology, and earth sciences
2. K.C. Venugopal : Power
This is the first Cabinet reshuffle in the UPA-II after it retained power in May 2009. The reshuffle is happening with Congress trying to address an image crisis created by a series of corruption case.