owever, the surprise of the expansion was the appointment of Antony, former Kerala chief minister with a clean reputation, to the prestigious Defence portfolio. The other key portofolios of Home and Finance were not touched.
Antony would be the second minister from Kerala after Vayalar Ravi, Minister for Overseas Affairs, both of whom are from Rajya Sabha as the party drew a blank in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.
M H Ambareesh, a Kannada actor of yesteryear, was appointed Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting while Yadav, who had resigned from the Union Council of Ministers in the wake of an arrest warrant against him for allegedly helping his brother escape from police custody, was appointed to his previous portfolio of Minister of State for Water Resources.
Image: The newly inducted minister at the swearing-in ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi.
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