New Delhi:
The Prime Minister today met President Pranab Mukherjee and was followed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi this evening. The meetings have set abuzz speculation of a cabinet reshuffle again, perhaps even as soon as this Friday. The earlier rumour of a reshuffle died out after it was calculated, mainly by the media, that there was no "auspicious period" till today, October 16.
The Prime Minister met the President for an hour before he left for Hyderabad to address a conference on biodiversity. Mrs Gandhi met him for about half an hour in the evening.
There is some speculation that the visits could be connected to the situation in Telangana, where there is a demand for separate state to be carved out of Andhra Pradesh, where the Congress runs the government.
Still other speculation is that the top two - the PM and Mrs Gandhi - could well be meeting the President to wish for the Durga Puja, which will be celebrated from this weekend till Tuesday next week.
Even when Mr Mukherjee was a minister in the government, a very busy one at that, he used to take four days off every year to celebrate the pujas in his village in West Bengal. This year too, he is scheduled to visit his village, on Saturday, October 20. This has also fired rumours that the reshuffle could be on Friday.
Six ministries are up for grabs since Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress pulled out of the Prime Minister's coalition government in September in protest against the decision to open up India's vast retail market to international super-stores like Walmart.
There was also the buzz that one of the four big ministries - home, finance, external affairs and defence - could see a change.
The Prime Minister met the President for an hour before he left for Hyderabad to address a conference on biodiversity. Mrs Gandhi met him for about half an hour in the evening.
There is some speculation that the visits could be connected to the situation in Telangana, where there is a demand for separate state to be carved out of Andhra Pradesh, where the Congress runs the government.
Still other speculation is that the top two - the PM and Mrs Gandhi - could well be meeting the President to wish for the Durga Puja, which will be celebrated from this weekend till Tuesday next week.
Even when Mr Mukherjee was a minister in the government, a very busy one at that, he used to take four days off every year to celebrate the pujas in his village in West Bengal. This year too, he is scheduled to visit his village, on Saturday, October 20. This has also fired rumours that the reshuffle could be on Friday.
Six ministries are up for grabs since Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress pulled out of the Prime Minister's coalition government in September in protest against the decision to open up India's vast retail market to international super-stores like Walmart.
There was also the buzz that one of the four big ministries - home, finance, external affairs and defence - could see a change.
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