NEW DELHI: Congress president Sonia Gandhi said on Sunday that inductions in the party organisation at the Centre had become inevitable because of the entry of some office-bearers in the Union Cabinet.However, young aspirants had to "wait a bit" and "work a little bit more" for getting accommodation in the party or the Government.

While party general secretary Ambika Soni had been made a Cabinet Minister, party spokesperson Anand Sharma and heads of other All-India Congress Committee departments, Jairam Ramesh, M.M. Pallam Raju and T. Subbarami Reddy, are some of the new Ministers of State.

"Some of my colleagues have been accommodated into the Union Ministry, I will have to see that those vacancies are filled," she said soon after the swearing-in ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Ms. Gandhi indicated that the changes would not be major. "They [the inductions] will not be major but they will certainly fill posts vacated by some who have joined the Government.''

Ms. Gandhi advised perseverance to young Congresspersons before being considered for responsible positions in the party or at the Centre. All senior Ministers had long innings of "contribution" in the party and even those inducted on Sunday had been active since their Youth Congress days.

The message

"The message is you should work in the party for sometime and you will be accommodated," she said, while agreeing with the sentiment for making young Congresspersons office-bearers in the party or Ministers at the Centre.

She referred to Ajay Makan, Ambika Soni and Anand Sharma, and pointed out that they had worked their way up after remaining active in the party organisation for a number of years. She asked the aspirants to "work a little bit" and hoped the new members of the Council of Ministers would work efficiently as they were a "proven lot."

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