Indicating that the alliance with the DMK is intact, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Tuesday that he has kept two berths vacant for the southern ally and hoped that the choice of nominees will be conveyed soon.
"We have kept two seats vacant for DMK. I hope they will convey their decision soon," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said after the swearing-in of the newly-inducted ministers.
"It's part of coalition dharma," was all that the prime minister said when asked about Congress's ties with DMK and corruption charges against former DMK ministers.
Manmohan Singh also said it was 'the last reshuffle before we go to the polls (in 2014)'.
Thirteen union ministers, including eight new faces, were on Tuesday sworn in at Rashtrapati Bhavan here as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh shuffled his council of ministers in the second such exercise in 25 months.