PC back in finance, safe Shinde placed in home Moily Mollified With Power

New Delhi: The Congress has brought back P Chidambaram to the finance ministry to handle the tough task of reviving the economy and helping the party in the build-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha poll. His place in the home ministry has been taken by a "safe" Sushil Kumar Shinde.      Chidambaram's appointment comes against the backdrop of expectations in the Congress that he will be able to script a turnaround, putting an end to the gloom the economic downturn has cast over its electoral prospects. The timing of the change was influenced by the keenness of PM Manmohan Singh, who had handled the portfolio after Pranab Mukherjee resigned on June 26, to have a full-scale finance minister ahead of the monsoon session.      Given his run-ins with the opposition, it marks a huge vote of confidence for Chidambaram. His return to the ministry soon after he was given the charge of the ministerial panel on spectrum marks his steady ascension in the hierarchy post-Pranab Mukherjee, but might carry the risk of escalation of tension with the BJP.      TOI was the first to report about the new portfolios of Chidambaram and Shinde on July 11.      Corporate affairs minister Veerappa Moily has been given the additional charge of power ministry, a responsibility that Shinde handled. The reluctance to have a full-time power minister stood out on a day when over half the country plunged into darkness following the worst-ever blackout, and was being seen as an indication that a larger restructuring of the government is likely after the monsoon session ends in September to coincide with changes in the Congress.      Shinde's appointment has clearly been influenced by the Congress's anxiety to keep the politically sensitive ministry with a loyalist.  Started as a peon, now India's 4th home min from M'rashtra Back in 1972, when the Congress high command refused a nomination to Dalit activist Sushil Kumar Shinde, a police-sub-inspector-turned-politician, his colleagues advised him not to pursue a career in active politics at the cost of a lucrative police job. But Shinde, who studied in a night school and worked as a peon in the Solapur district court for over four years, persisted and was rewarded when he was elected by a huge margin in a by-election to the legislative assembly from Karmala reserved constituency in 1974. A year later, he was inducted into the state cabinet by S B Chavan as minister of state for sports and cultural affairs. There was no looking back after that. Shinde (71) will the fourth home minister from Maharashtra, the previous ones being Y B Chavan (1966-70), Shankarrao Chavan (1991-95) and Shivraj Patil (2004-08). P 13 Will PC's NCTC become a casualty?  New Delhi: New home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has handled an array of responsibilities in his home state of Maharashtra and at the Centre, but can hardly boast of dynamism that brought to the job in the aftermath of 26/11. The National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC), which Chidambaram kept pushing for despite the resistance from states, risks becoming a casualty.      His new responsibility marks the apogee of a career studded with highprofile assignments and is being seen as a testimony to the returns that loyalty to the leadership can fetch in the Congress.      The arrival of the reforms-friendly P Chidambaram, who is now on his way to equalling Morarji Desai's record of presenting the most full budgets, has been looked forward to since Mukherjee's elevation as President.      The investors expect him to quickly take a fresh look at Mukherjee's controversial measures: from General Anti Avoidance Rules (GGAR), to retrospective changes in taxation law to make telecom major Vodafone pay up Rs 12,000 crore, to demands on international tech giants such as Microsoft.      He will also be required to rein in expenditure, especially the non-essential types: a tough ask which has become tougher because of the enhanced premium on populism at a time when polls are approaching.      However, Chidambaram has shown his sensitivity to the Congress's political needs when he managed to conjure the Rs 70,000 crore agricultural loanwaiver in his 2008 budget: something which paid off handsomely at the next hustings. The party and the government expects him to do the same balancing in the next budget: the last full one before the 2014 election. CAN PC TURN THE ECONOMY AROUND IN ANOTHER STINT AS FM? P Chidambaram, Sushil Kumar Shinde and M Veerappa Moily