A K Antony was tonight appointed the new defence minister in place of Pranab Mukherjee, who moved to the external affairs portfolio in a Cabinet expansion and reshuffle which also saw the reinduction of controversial RJD MP Jai Prakash Narayan Yadav as a minister of state.Ending months of speculation, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh filled the foreign office slot vacated by K Natwar Singh in the wake of the Iraqi oil scam nearly a year ago by expectedly moving Mukherjee from Defence to a position which he held in the Narasimha Rao Cabinet.However, the surprise of the expansion was the appointment of Antony, former Kerala Chief Minister with a clean reputation, to the prestigeous defence portfolio. The other key portofolios of home and finance were not not touched.M H Ambareesh, yesteryears Kannada actor, was appointed minister of state for information and broadcasting while Yadav, who had resigned from the Union council of ministers in the wake of an arrest warrant against him for allegedly helping his brother escape from police custody, was appointed to his previous portfolio of minister of state for water resources.Oscar Fernandes, minister without portfolio, got independent charge of labour and employment, which had fallen vacant following the resignation of K Chandrasekhar Rao of the Telengana Rashtra Samiti. Chandra Sekhar Sahu, MoS in labour, was shifted to rural development.
