New Delhi, July 12: Barring surprises sprung on him, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hopes to face the 2014 general elections with the ministerial team agonisingly put together today.

“As far as I am concerned, this is the last reshuffle before the polls,” Singh announced immediately after this evening’s restructuring at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

He was quick to add a philosophical caveat — “though in life there is no finality” — but the message he wanted to send out was spelt firmly enough: there is nothing in his knowledge to swirling speculation over a change of guard before the next Lok Sabha battle.

He remains, as he told editors a fortnight ago, possessed of the confidence of his political boss, Sonia Gandhi, and intends to continue doing the job he has been entrusted.

In spite of persisting chatter on the reshuffle being a compromise snatched from a political deadlock, the Prime Minister appeared convinced of the completeness of his exercise at the end of the 25-minute induction formalities.

Responding to whether the new team had addressed the sense of a beleaguered government, Singh stepped up to journalists at the ropeside in the presidential corridors and said: “This reshuffle addressed the balance necessary between various states, considerations of efficiency and considerations of continuity. We have addressed the issue of trust deficit.”

Without requiring to be blunt, the Prime Minister also relayed a “calm down” signal to Rahul Gandhi loyalists pleading his readiness for the top job. No more ministerial changes means Rahul Gandhi, the heir apparent, isn’t any closer to assuming the reins as some of the Prime Minister’s party detractors might want. Neither does he plan to entertain any more plum job jockeying from the Congress or the allies.

Asked directly about the possibility of him inducting Rahul as a colleague, Singh said, a faint smile playing on his lips: “Well, I have asked Rahul several times to join the cabinet but he says he has responsibilities in the organisation.”

He seemed to not only agree with Rahul’s tilt away from government but also to encourage his avowed bias for party work, patting the youngest Congress general secretary on the back for “trying to get a better understanding of farmers’ problems” through his padyatras. “He is doing a good job… farmers are the most important people in terms of their contribution to national growth…”

As far as the Prime Minister is concerned, his 2014 team is now final save for two slots kept for the DMK to pick nominees for. He made it apparent he didn’t intend to lose sleep over unhappiness or disgruntlement over his final pick.

“There are bound to be differences, problems when there is some redistribution of portfolios. We have taken into account the best interests of the country,” he said.

Support on Singh’s choice of the final playing eleven, as it were, rang out from among his top colleagues. “The skipper should be allowed to choose his team,” said Salman Khursheed, who takes charge of law in addition to minority affairs.

But quite apart from its political content, there appears to be a strong governance aspect to the Prime Minister’s no-more-changes resolution. It’s intended at steadying his team to given tasks in the final lap of the UPA’s second innings in power. As one minister said after today’s exercise: “This means two things — ministers can remain secure about their jobs and concentrate on doing it well. Equally, they should stop worrying about getting something better or indulging in ministerial one-upmanship. All that they are required to do now is to stick to the straight and narrow of the assigned job, nothing left or right of that.”

Not disturbing the big four — finance, home, defence and external affairs — may have been a consequence of unresolved differences over who moves where, but some are seeing in that stalemate a “blessing in disguise”.

Other than the elevation of Dinesh Trivedi as railway minister, the two big-ticket changes in the new government are the handing of rural development to Jairam Ramesh at the cabinet level and the ticklish law portfolio to Khursheed, at a time when civil society and the courts have turned aggressively pro-active.

The exercise was, however, marred by the resignation of Gurudas Kamat, who quit within hours of being elevated as minister of state with independent charge. He was reportedly unhappy with the portfolio of drinking water and sanitation he was given. n See Page 4