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Bangladesh cabinet expanded

DHAKA: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has expanded her cabinet with 9 new faces raising the strength from thirtysix to fortyfive.

It is widely believed that another new minister is going to be included in her cabinet soon.

This is, by far, the biggest ever cabinet in the annals of Bangladesh. India's Atal Behari Vajpayee had to accommodate seventy-plus ministers in his cabinet who represent nearly a billion people living in 25 states. But a cabinet of 46 members undoubtedly an extravagant one for a country of one hundred thirty million people with a poor and backward economy.

The size of the cabinet, inclusion of personalities and allocation of portfolios all demonstrated that the Prime Minister tried to accommodate various pressure groups active inside her party, whom she could no longer ignore in view of the war-footing of an increasingly desperate opposition. Among the new faces two are Prime Minister's cousins, nephews of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Awami League heavy weights, Amir Hossain Amu and Abdul Jalil, who are not the members of the Parliament, were included as ministers under technocrat quota. This quota plays the key role in accommodating non-MP party leaders in the cabinet.ÑAPP