By IANS,
New Delhi : In a mega reshuffle, 22 ministers, including seven of cabinet rank, were inducted into the Manmohan Singh government in what is seen as the last such exercise by UPA-II before the 2014 general elections.
President Pranab Mukherjee administered the oath of office to those inducted into the council of ministers.
Of the seven new cabinet ministers, two are new faces – former Rajya Sabha deputy chairman K. Rahman Khan and Lok Sabha MP Chandresh Kumari Katoch.
The remaining five – Ajay Maken, Dinsha Patel, M.M. Pallam Raju, Harish Rawat and Ashwani Kumar – were ministers of state. Maken and Patel had held independent charge.
Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari and Telugu actor-turned politician K. Chiranjeevi were among the 15 inducted as ministers of state.
Tiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor returns to the council of ministers while Nationalist Congress Party leader Tariq Anwar makes his debut as a minister.
The other ministers of state are: Congress MPs Kodikunnil Suresh, Kotla Jaya Surya Prakash Reddy, Ranee Narah, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury, Sarve Satyanarayana, Ninong Ering, Deepa Dasmunsi, Porika Balram Naik, Killi Kruparani, and Lalchand Kataria.