Ajit sworn in as Cabinet Minister; gets Civil Aviation

New Delhi: Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Ajit Singh was today inducted in the UPA government as a Cabinet Minister with Civil Aviation portfolio.
He was administered the oath of office at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in a simple ceremony.
Later, a Rashtrapati Bhavan statement said he had been entrusted with the Civil Aviation portfolio.
The oath-taking ceremony was attended by Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
Besides, some senior cabinet ministers like P Chidambaram and Kapil Sibal were also present.
Mr Singh had only last week joined the ruling UPA which came to power at the Centre in 2009 for a second term.
This is his second stint with the Congress government. Earlier, he had served as Food Minister in the Narasimha Rao government.
RLD is joining the government after it decided to have an electoral alliance with the UPA leader Congress in the coming state Assembly elections.
Seventy-two-year-old Mr Singh, son of former Prime Minister Ch Charan Singh, has his base among the farmers of western part of the country’s most populated state.
His party has five members in the Lok Sabha.
AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, who is on a campaign to revive the Congress in the state and played a key role in bringing RLD with the Congress for UP polls, also attended Mr Singh’s swearing-in ceremony.
This is the third expansion of the UPA cabinet.
After Mr Singh inclusion in the UPA, the strength of the alliance has risen to 277 from 272 in the Lok Sabha.