Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will take the oath of the office along with 19 cabinet ministers this evening. While informing the news, top Congress source said that former Karnataka chief minister SM Krishna may be sworn in as the external affairs minister. The oath-taking ceremony will take place at Rashtrapati Bhawan in the capital. President Pratibha Patil will administer the oath to Manmohan Singh and other probable cabinet ministers.

 

Some of the probable cabinet ministers who are likely to take oath along with Manmohan Singh include Pranab Mukherjee (Finance), AK Antony (Defence), P Chidambaram (Home), Kapil Sibal (HRD), SM Krishna (External Affairs), Gulam Nabi (Parliamentary Affairs), Sharad Pawar (Agriculture), Mamata Banerjee (Railways), Jaipal Reddy (Urban Development), Anand Sharma (Information and Broadcasting), Sushil Kumar Shinde (Power) and Vayalar Ravi (Overseas Indian Affairs).

 

Apart from them, Murli Deora, Kamal Nath, N Veerappamoily, CP Joshi, BK Handique, Ambika Soni and Miera Kumar are also likely to take oath. The portfolios of these ministers are not known yet. In fact, none of the portfolios has been officially announced. According to a senior leader, the first round of oath taking will not include any Ministers of State. As per media reports, second swearing-in ceremony is expected to take place on Tuesday (May 26). The second round will include some more cabinet ministers as well as Minister of States.