Sharad Pawar rules out central berth for Supriya Sule

Union agriculture minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar on Saturday said that expansion of the union cabinet will take place soon. He said that prime minister Manmohan Singh has held discussions with him and it would be Tariq Anwar and not Supriya Sule who would get a possible ministerial berth from his party.

Pawar was speaking to the media at a luncheon at Shiv Chhatrapati sports complex in Balewadi during the NCP’s two-day convention of state unit.

He said that the party would not press for an additional ministerial berth but would go for shuffling one of its minister. Without naming who will be replaced, he said that Tariq Anwar’s name has already been forwarded for induction from NCP quota.

Pawar said that NCP would adhere to the formula agreed by it during the formation of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) after the 2004 elections. He said that NCP had nine Lok Sabha MPs and it was decided that there would be two ministers for alliance partners with six MPs.

On UPA chief Sonia Gandhi, Pawar said, “I have found a substantial improvement in her as far as her assessment regarding people around her is concerned in the past 12 years.”