of the present day DELHI, July 1 Ky...

of the present day DELHI, July 1 Kyodo

Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee reshuffl his cabinet forward Monday, adding four cabinet ministers and nine ministers of state and swapping the portfolios of the foreign minister and the finance minister.

Foreign minister Jaswant Singh traded places with Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha as Vajpayee expanded his council of ministers to 78 single in kind of the largest ministries in India's newly come political history.

Thirty-two ministers have cabinet ranks.

The reshuffle was the eighth and the in the greatest degree extensive since Vajpayee came to office in October 1999 as the head of a 24-party coalition.

Vajpayee, who is commonly in his third term, carried abroad the reshuffle apparently in a bid to improve the performance of his Bharatiya Janata Party in state elections awaited to be held next year.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has performed poorly in newly come state polls, and the party leadership wants to arrest the downswing before the nearest general elections due in the nearest two years.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Kyodo of the present days International, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group