“OLD IS GOLD ” proves Team Manmohan which aboards 8 Veterans to 4 Minister and 4 MOS…

“OLD IS GOLD ” proves Team Manmohan which aboards 8 Veterans to 4 Minister and 4 MOS posts in UPA-II in its 4th reshuffle ,No space for Young Faces 

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday inducted eight veterans into the union council of ministers

With general elections less than a year away, the prime minister played safe and brought in only people with a proven track record in the party.

Of the eight ministers, the youngest was 59 years old, while the oldest was Sis Ram Ola at 85.This is the fourth major reshuffle in UPA-II.

Those inducted as cabinet ministers are Sis Ram Ola (Labour), Oscar Fernandes (Road Transport and Highways), Girja Vyas (Housing and Poverty Alleviation) and K.S. Rao (Textiles). Those brought in as ministers of state are: Manik Rao Gavit (Social Justice and Empowerment, Santosh Chowdhary (Health), E.M.S. Natchiappan (Commerce and Industry) and J.D. Seelam (Finance).

Veteran Congressman Mallikarjun Kharge’s portfolio was changed from labour to railways, after C.P. Joshi stepped down to join the party organization.

Ola and Vyas are from Rajasthan, where elections are slated later this year. Andhra has two faces – Rao and Seelam, where the Congress is hoping to resolve the contentious Telangana separate statehood issue. Fernandes is from Karnataka, where the Congress came back to power last month.