Mr P. Chidambaram is back as Finance Minister, for the third time. An official communiqué, issued in the evening, said Mr Chidambaram would be reallocated the Finance portfolio, while Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde will take charge of the Home Ministry.

Mr Chidambaram was heading the Home Ministry and Mr Shinde, the Power Ministry.

Homecoming

Further, Mr M. Veerappa Moily, Minister of Corporate Affairs, has been assigned additional charge of the Ministry of Power.

The shift is a home coming for Mr Chidambaram, who first became Finance Minister in 1996 and held this post till 1998.

Then, when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) won in 2004, he was given the Finance portfolio. However, in the aftermath of the terror attack in Mumbai, he had to hand over the charge to Mr Pranab Mukherjee on November 30, 2008 before moving to the Home Ministry.

A veteran Parliamentarian, Mr Chidambaram has won all but one Lok Sabha election since 1984. He represents the Sivaganga Lok Sabha Constituency in Tamil Nadu .

POWERING UP

Mr Shinde’s shift to the Home Ministry is seen as an elevation and as an effort to woo the Dalit community.

A veteran of Maharashtra politics, Mr Shinde first entered Parliament as a Rajya Sabha member in 1992. He was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1998 and then in 2009.

He was the Power Minister in UPA 1 and he was asked to continue in 2009 till date. He represents the Solapur Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra.

1 and he was asked to continue in 2009 till date. He represents the Solapur Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra.

>Shishir.sinha@thehindu.co.in

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