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Now a number three in the cabinet hierarchy?

By IANS,

New Delhi : Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is certainly the number two in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) cabinet and takes charge whenever Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is away. But there could soon be a number three.

A little bird tells us that the mantle could come Defence Minister A.K. Antony’s way. The quiet and non-controversial minister has risen in Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s esteem since he was inducted into UPA-1 in 2006.

Apart from heading a crucial ministry, Antony has a wide portfolio and is now incharge of Maharashtra, chairman of the party’s disciplinary action committee and also convenor of the panel formed by the party to celebrate its 125th anniversary.

If that was not enough, Antony is a member of the Congress core group and has been involved in crucial government decisions regarding the creation of a separate Telangana state. Now the million dollar question among party insiders is if it is going to be official.