With focus on stability, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has largely relied on experience and ability in the 19 Cabinet ministers who were sworn-in on Friday by bringing in former Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna and retaining trouble-shooter Pranab Mukherjee.
Senior ministers in the outgoing Cabinet P Chidambaram, A K Antony, NCP leader Sharad Pawar, Kamal Nath and Murli Deora and leader of Congress ally Mamata Banerjee of Trinamool Congress will all head important ministries. *Pranab Mukherjee:* A man for all seasons, Mukherjee has carved a niche for himself steering key ministries like Finance<http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/19_cabinet_ministers_take_oath_pm_relies_on_experience.php#>and External Affairs besides heading a number of GoMs in the outgoing ministry. The eternal 'number two', Mukherjee, 73, was a trusted lieutenant of late Indira Gandhi under whom he was the powerful Minister of State for Revenue during the emergency and later became a full-fledged Finance Minister between 1982 and 1984. In the outgoing government, Mukherjee as External Affairs Minister played a crucial role in negotiating the nuclear deal with the US besides mobilising world opinion against Pakistan after the terrorist strike in Mumbai. He also functioned as the leader of 14th Lok Sabha. *S M Krishna:* A suave and articulate leader, S M Krishna brings with him vast experience in the state and at the Centre and is credited with efforts to transform Bangalore <http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/19_cabinet_ministers_take_oath_pm_relies_on_experience.php#>as the Information Technology capital of India. Krishna, 77, a Fulbright Scholar educated in George Washington and Southern Methodist Universities<http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/19_cabinet_ministers_take_oath_pm_relies_on_experience.php#>in the US, has had a roller coaster ride in politics that has seen him occupy positions of power as Union Minister, Speaker, Chief Minister and Governor. Handpicked by the late P V Narasimha Rao as the chief ministerial candidate in Karnataka in the 1994 Assembly elections, he lost to H D Deve Gowda in the race for power and to had overcome the image of "elitist" politician he had come to acquire. *P Chidambaram:* Both during his stint as Finance Minister and later as Home Minister in the Manmohan Singh ministry, P Chidambaram has earned the reputation of being a hard task master and a good economic administrator. Acknowledging his ability to handle any job<http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/19_cabinet_ministers_take_oath_pm_relies_on_experience.php#>being given to him efficiently, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had shifted the 64-year-old Harvard-educated lawyer to the Home Ministry following the Mumbai terror attack which led to the resignation of Shivraj Patil from the Union Cabinet. During his short tenure, Chidambaram has successfully strengthened the security apparatus across the country. He re-organised the intelligence network, tightened the provisions in the anti-terror laws and amended the CISF Act to enable the security force to guard vital private installations. *Mamata Banerjee:* From just one seat in Lok Sabha polls five years ago, when many had written her political obituary, to the portals of power in Delhi, the wheel has turned a full circle for Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, the stormy petrel of West Bengal politics. The 54-year-old former teacher shot into prominence when she defeated veteran CPM leader Somnath Chatterjee in Lok Sabha elections in Jadavpore constituency in 1984 and was subsequently elected to the Lok Sabha in 1998, and in 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004 from Kolkata<http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/19_cabinet_ministers_take_oath_pm_relies_on_experience.php#>South. A relentless fighter against CPM, she bided her time to bounce back and her opportunity came when Nandigram and Singur exploded on the national scene. *Ambika Soni:* One of Congress' vibrant faces, Ambika Soni, 65, has risen to the occasion many a time and in the process earned herself goodwill of the party leadership. The recent controversy over auctioning of Mahatma Gandhi's articles and the handling of the issue on her part as the tourism minister brought out her political acumen inherited over the years. A close confidante of the Gandhi family, Soni has been at the helm of several parliamentary committees. An art lover, she is also widely acknowledged as a social worker<http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/19_cabinet_ministers_take_oath_pm_relies_on_experience.php#> . *S Jaipal Reddy:* Sixty seven-year-old Sudini Jaipal Reddy brings with him rich experience in public life. He was a member of the state legislative assembly from 1969 to 1984 for four terms. Reddy got elected to the Lok Sabha in 1984 on Janata Party ticket and has been a member of lower house for four terms. He was also a member of Rajya Sabha on two occasions. *Kamal Nath:* Kamal Nath, who has won eight elections from the backward and predominantly tribal constituency of Chhindwara, has been instrumental in effectively projecting the country's free-market image to the world. Nath has been an advocate of special economic zones to boost manufacturing. SEZ, a designated duty free enclave that is treated as foreign territory for trade operations, has been a bone of contention between the Finance and Commerce Ministries over revenue flows, while it has given ruling parties headaches over land acquisition. *Murli Deora:* Murli Deora has created a record of sorts. No one has ever completed a full five year term as Petroleum Minister and none have ever been repeated. BJP's Ram Naik is the longest serving Oil Minister serving at Shastri Bhawan for good four-and-half years. Deora, 72, who has been named part of the Union Cabinet, is most likely to break that jinx and return as Petroleum Minister. Widely considered pro-US and pro-business, Deora was for long the Congress' principal interface with the industry. *Kapil Sibal:* A lawyer by profession and a politician by accident, Kapil Sibal, 60, is one of the most recognizable public faces of Congress, who managed to turn the ministry of Science and Technology, considered by many as a non-happening place, into a high-profile one during his five-tenure from 2004. Besides his achievements in the ministry, the Lok Sabha MP from Delhi's Chandni Chowk handled the tough negotiations at international fora on global response to climate change. A former Additional Solicitor General of India between December 1989-1990, Sibal shot into fame when he mounted a defence in Parliament of Supreme Court Justice V Ramasamy, the only judge who has been sought to be impeached. *M Veerappa Moily:* 69-year-old M Veerappa Moily is a prominent backward community leader of Congress from Karnataka, who made his way into the Union ministry with considerable administrative experience acquired during his stint as the Chief Minister of Karnataka. Moily was instrumental in spreading the benefits of OBC reservation in Karnataka as also the rest of the country. As a loyal Congressman, he has been the chairman of the party's media department, chairman of the department of policy planning and coordination and Congress Working Committee member in charge of Andhra Pradesh and Assam. *Anand Sharma:* For Anand Sharma elevation to Cabinet rank is a long-awaited reward for his services to the Congress particularly his election campaign strategies. The 56-year-old Union Minister of State in the previous government was part of Congress' 'War Room', which had been set up to spearhead the party's election campaign. It was his idea of using the 'Jai Ho' song from Oscar winning movie 'Slumdog Millionaire' during campaigning to strike a chord with the masses. It apparently served the purpose, even though rival BJP tried to counter it with 'Bhay Ho' slogan. *B K Handique:* For 74-year-old Bijoy Krishna Handique, elevation to Cabinet rank came after a long wait. Six-term MP from Jorhat in Assam, Handique is a known Nehru-Gandhi family loyalist and a non-controversial leader who served as the minister of state for parliamentary affairs in the outgoing government. The only representative from the northeast in the new Cabinet, he was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1991 and reelected in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2004 and in the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls. *C P Joshi:* For the Rajasthan PCC chief, who lost in Assembly polls from Nathdwara by a solitary vote six months ago, it has been a remarkable comeback for C P Joshi (59) who won the Lok Sabha polls and made it to the Union Cabinet - a reward for the key role he played in the party's revival in the state. Known to be close to Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, the MP from Bhilwara is considered an astute politician, who steered his party to wrest power from the BJP. *Ghulam Nabi Azad:* Known for his crisis managerial skills, Ghulam Nabi Azad's inclusion in the Union Cabinet marks his comeback to the Central government after a brief gap of three and a half years. Hailing from Baderwah area of Jammu and Kashmir, the 60-year-old leader has risen from being a block secretary of the Congress in 1973 to being one of the key members of the party whose services are in much demand at all the times. He returns to the Union ministry after his three-year stint in Jammu and Kashmir as chief minister of a Congress-PDP coalition government. *Sharad Pawar:* A known organiser, 68-year old Sharad Pawar is among the few leaders who has been able to retain his influence even after leaving Congress. In the Lok Sabha elections, his NCP projected him as the PM candidate in Maharashtra maintaining that Manmohan Singh was the PM candidate of the Congress and not of the UPA. *A K Antony:* Antony has always been regarded highly across the political spectrum and handled the delicate assignments in the government, especially the Defence ministry as also in the Congress with equal ease. Known as 'Mr Clean' due to his image and simplicity, the 68-year-old former Kerala chief minister is one of the most trusted associates of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. *Vyalar Ravi:* Ravi held the Overseas Indian Affairs and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs portfolio in the outgoing Cabinet. Ravi (72), currently a Rajya Sabha member, was the Founder President of the Kerala Students' Union (KSU), the students' wing of Indian National Congress in Kerala. He has been a Lok Sabha member twice before. *Sushilkumar Shinde:* Shinde (68) is the first backward caste person to have become the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. He served as Chief Minister from January 18, 2003 to November 1, 2004. He was born into a very poor Hindu "Kakkaya-Dhor" family. The Kakkaya cast was a Maratha caste formed after the 13th century. His first job was sub-inspector of police. He also studied law. Encouraged by Sharad Pawar, then a rising Congress politician, he quit his sub-inspector's job to enter politics in 1971. *Meira Kumar:* Kumar is the daughter of Deputy Prime Minister and prominent dalit leader, Babu Jagjivan Ram. Kumar (64) joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1973 and served at embassies in Spain, United Kingdom and Mauritius. Kumar entered electoral politics in 1985 and was elected from Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh. She was a member of the eleventh and twelfth Lok Sabha's from Karol Bagh in Delhi. She lost her seat in the BJP wave of 1999, but was able to get reelected with a record majority from her father's former constituency of Sasaram in Bihar. -- “Individually, we are one drop; Together, we are an ocean .” Vanakkam Subbu
