23 May 2004	Sunday	03 Rabi-us-Saani 1425

NEW DELHI, May 22: Teacher-turned-politician Dr Manmohan Singh was sworn in as India's 13th prime minister on Saturday. But much like the finance minister he once was , Dr Singh decided to keep everyone in deep suspense, only this time over the portfolios he plans to hand out to the 67 coalition ministers who also took the oath.

Almost everyone from the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) who was sulking until Friday night in the mad rush for ministries appeared in the morning to have been pacified, if not completely pleased.

Of the 28 full-fledged cabinet ministers sworn in, 17 were from the Congress party and only 11 from the rest of the UPA. Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state got only one cabinet representative. As the Congress, with just 145 MPs of the 320 supporting it, kept the largest contingent of cabinet ministers, it was clear that some of the key jobs would be retained by it.

Two former foreign-service officers, both having served in Pakistan, K. Natwar Singh and Mani Shankar Iyer, were among the cabinet ministers sworn in. But with Mr Iyer keenly involved with the panchayati raj grassroots governance, it was Mr Natwar Singh who was tipped to be the foreign minister. A third former foreign-service officer, a Dalit woman, Meira Kumari, could vie for the junior foreign minister's post.

Outgoing prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and five former prime ministers were present at Dr Singh's swearing-in. He would be the 14th prime minister if the late Gulzarilal Nanda, who was twice the stand-in prime minister, is also counted.

Former prime ministers I.K. Gujral, Chandra Shekhar, V.P. Singh, P.V. Narasimha Rao and H.D. Deve Gowda were present at the ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan's Ashoka Hall on Saturday. Immediately on arrival, Mr Vajpayee exchanged pleasantries with Dr Manmohan Singh and both provided the waiting lensmen with a photo opportunity.