Ajit Singh joins UPA; to be new Civil Aviation Minister

New Delhi , Dec 13: The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) Chief, Ajit Singh is likely to be sworn as new Civil Aviation Minister later this week. Meanwhile, RLD, which joined ruling UPA on Monday (Dec 12) has five members in Lok Sabha.

The move is in the wake of seat-sharing agreement between the Rashtriya Lok Dal and Congress for the forthcoming Uttar Pradesh elections which is likely to be held in Feb 2012, where RLD would be contesting in 45 out of the 403 seats. It is learnt that Congress made the agreement with Ajit Singh to affirm its victory in western UP, where Ajit Singh's party has a sizeable vote bank among the Jats, Muslim and upper caste votes.

Meanwhile, with the RLD joining the ruling party, the UPA’s strength in the Lok Sabha went up from 272 to 277 members. According to a source, the swearing-in is likely to take place by Dec 16. Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh said the Induction of RLD Chief in the cabinet will give Congress a major political advantage in western Uttar Pradesh.

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