Imminent reshuffle

A Cabinet reshuffle seems unavoidable now. Indications are that Power Minister Sushilkmar Shinde will be sent to Maharashtra to replace Chief Minister Ashok Chavan. So, another vacancy will be created at the Centre, and one that the prime minister would probably want to fill quickly — just in case Shinde wants to return to the Centre. Shinde is not a novice at administration. He has been Maharashtra’s chief minister and it was under his watch in 2004 that the Congress won the elections, though with significantly fewer numbers. This was because during the earlier assembly elections the Congress promised free electricity to farmers and a package to Vidarbha cotton farmers — it was unable to keep both the promises.