NEW DELHI, April 6: India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reshuffled his cabinet on Sunday with seven new ministers but key portfolios are unchanged ahead of mid-2009 elections.

Among the new faces are Jyotiraditya Scindia, the 37-year-old scion of a royal family from central Gwalior region and son of late ex-minister Madhavrao Scindia.

Another new name is former election panel chief and ex-bureaucrat M.S.Gill, a Sikh from northern Punjab state.

News reports had said senior cabinet ministers in charge of major portfolios such as home, defence and foreign affairs would remain, but several infrastructure ministries including coal would be changed.

The reshuffle comes as Singh’s Congress-led left-leaning government is entering the final phase of its five-year tenure, political analyst Rasheed Kidwai said.

Sunday’s exercise is a “feeble attempt to streamline the functioning of the government, inject young blood and enforce accountability,” he said, adding the moves also come ahead of local elections in five major states in November.—AFP