Krishna resigns ahead of cabinet reshuffle; Mukul Wasnik, Ambika Soni offer to quit
26 Oct 2012
External affairs minister S M Krishna today resigned from the union council of ministers ahead of a scheduled cabinet reshuffle, that is expected on Sunday.
Krishna, a former chief minister of Karnataka, sent his resignation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the afternoon and the prime minister is reported to have accepted his resignation.
Krishna's resignation also comes a day after the Karnataka Lokayukta ordered an enquiry into allegations of corruption against three former chief minister of the state into the acquisition of land for the Mysore-Bangalore Expressway.
The Congress, however, wants Krishna to lead the party in Karnataka, which is going to polls next year.
Commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma, also a former minister of state for external affairs, is widely expected to replace Krishna as external affairs minister.
Other names doing the rounds are human resource development minister Kapil Sibal, information and broadcasting minister Ambika Soni, urban development minister Kamal Nath and Shashi Tharoor, a Congress MP from Kerala and a former minister of state for external affairs.
