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Lucky new 7

Tofail, Menon, Inu, MKAlamgir, Mujibul Haque, Omor Faruk & Abdul Hyee set to become ministers

Hasan Jahid Tusker and Rashidul Hasan
With only a year left for the government before its term ends, some senior leaders of the Awami League-led 14-party alliance, notably Tofail Ahmed, Rashed Khan Menon, Hasanul Haque Inu, and Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, are set to become ministers today.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is also to reshuffle the cabinet by incorporating seven new faces. Whip Mujibul Haque,
Awami League lawmakers Omor Faruk Chowdhury of Rajshahi-1 constituency and Abdul Hyee of Jhenidah-1 are also set to join the cabinet.
She finalised the names after consulting with a few senior leaders and ministers of her party and the government. As in earlier times, Sheikh Hasina talked about the cabinet expansion with President Zillur Rahman on Monday evening, said sources.
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Menon and Inu are presidents of the Workers Party of Bangladesh and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal respectively. They are also lawmakers from the AL-led alliance and have been vocal against the government on some major issues such as the stock market and Hall-Mark scams.
Sources said the five senior leaders would be made ministers while Faruk and Hyee would be inducted as state ministers. If all the seven take the oath of office today the size of the cabinet, including the prime minister, willbe51.
Government sources said some of the low-performing ministers, such as the home minister, might get reshuffled.
A senior minister told The Daily Star that the size of the cabinet would be kept within 50 and in that case one or two ministers might be dropped.
Sources hinted that a few controversial advisers to tire PM might also be dropped. The PM now has seven advisers, six enjoying ministerlevel and one state ministerlevelstatus.
This will be the third expansion of the cabinet. The premier last expanded her cabinet on November 28, 2011 by incorporating Suranjit Sengupta, now
minister without portfolio, and Obaidul Quader, minister for communications and railways.
After the AL's landslide victory at the 2008 parliamentary election, Hasina formed her cabinet with 31 members — 23 ministers and eight state ministers. On January 24, 2009, she included six more fresh faces -- a minister and five state ministers — in the council of ministers and reshuffled 10 portfolios.
Agriculture Minister Malia Chowdhury last night confirmed to The Daily Star about the cabinet expansion and reshuffle. Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said the oath taking ceremony might take place today if everything goes smoothly.
Government sources said the oath taking ceremony would take place around 3:00pm at Bangabhaban in the presence of the prime minister.
The cabinet expansion comes at a time when the government is facing huge
criticism at home and abroad over some crucial issues, including cancellation of the Padma bridge loan by the World Bank, Hall-Mark and share market scams and unrest in different educational institutions.
Sources said state minis-ter for LGRD and Cooperatives Jahangir Kabir Nanak might be upgraded to minister and given a new portfolio. The new faces will be given charge of railways, information and communications technology, and public administration ministries.
Besides, food and disaster management ministry and post and telecommunications ministry might be split and new faces might be given charge, hinted the sources.
Contacted, Menon said he was informed by the cabinet secretary last night but he was yet to decide on taking oath. “I will hold a meeting of my party tomorrow Itoday] and there will be discussion on whether I will join the cabinet at this period of time," added the key leader in the 14-parly combine.
With the new expansion, all components of the AL-led grand alliance government — Jatiya Party, Workers Party, JSD and Samyabadi Dal -have been given one ministerial berth each.