In third time stint with Cong-led Centre, Ajit Singh gets civil aviation ministry

New Delhi: Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh who was sworn into the Union Cabinet today has been allocated the Civil Aviation Ministry. On the advise of the Prime Minister, President Pratibha Patil allocated Civil Aviation Ministry to Singh, Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a statement. Earlier, the President administered the oath of office and secrecy to Singh at a ceremony here. Singh, the Jat leader who took oath today as a Cabinet Minister in the UPA government, has twice before been part of Congress-led Central government. He became a Cabinet minister for the first time in the VP Singh government in 1989 when he served as the Industry Minister.and was given the Food portfolio from February 1995 to May 1996 in the Narasimha Rao government. He had then merged his party with the Congress. [caption id=“attachment_159188” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The RLD chief — and Jat leader —  took oath today as a Cabinet Minister in the UPA government. CNN-IBN”] [/caption] His third stint as a Cabinet minister was in the BJP-led NDA government when he became the Agriculture Minister from July 2001 to May 2003. Singh, who has a strong political legacy as he is the son of former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh, has always capitalised on the loyal Jat votes. He has also nurtured chief ministerial ambitions with his demand for a separate Harit Pradesh in western UP. He was quick to welcome UP Chief Minister Mayawati’s recent proposal of dividing the state into four parts though the two leaders do not see eye-to-eye on other issues. Singh, a computer engineer by profession who worked for 15 years in the US before returning to India in 1986 to enter politics, has won Lok Sabha elections six times and lost only once in 1998. In 1996, he won on a Congress ticket. The Jat leader, whose RLD has five members in the Lok Sabha, had a meeting with the Prime Minister last week and also with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. RLD became the 15th constituent of the UPA. Other major UPA allies include TMC, DMK, NCP, NC, Muslim League and Kerala Congress (M). PTI