Contrary to expectations, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh chose not to retain the finance ministry and instead brought back Congress leader P Chidambaram.

The Council of Ministers

Congress leaders also cornered the other plum portfolios -- Pranab Mukherjee will be the defence minister, Shivraj Patil will look after home and K Natwar Singh will take charge of external affairs.

Others in the list:

Cabinet Ministers

Arjun Singh, Congress: Human resource development
Sharad Pawar, Nationalist Congress Party: Agriculture, food & civil supplies, consumer affairs and public distribution
Laloo Prasad, Rashtriya Janata Dal: Railways
Ram Vilas Paswan, Lok Janshakti Party: Chemicals and fertilisers. He will also take charge of steel.
Ghulam Nabi Azad, Congress: Parliamentary Affairs and urban development
S Jaipal Reddy, Congress: Information and broadcasting. He will also look after culture.
Sisram Ola, Congress: Labour and employment
Mahavir Prasad, Congress: Small scale, agro and rural industries
P R Kyndiah, Congress: Tribal affairs and development of the Northeast
T R Baalu, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam: Road transport and highways
Shankarsinh Vaghela, Congress: Textiles
Kamal Nath, Congress: Commerce and industry
H R Bhardwaj, Congress: Law and justice
P M Sayeed, Congress: Power
Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, RJD: Rural development
Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, Congress: Water resources
Mani Shankar Aiyar, Congress: Petroleum & natural gas. He will also take charge of panchayati raj.
Sunil Dutt, Congress: Youth affairs and sports
Shibu Soren, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha: Coal, mines and minerals
A Raja, DMK: Environment and forest
Dayanidhi Maran, DMK: Communication and IT
Meira Kumar, Congress: Social justice and empowerment
K Chandrasekhar Rao, Telangana Rashtra Samithi: Shipping
Anbumani Ramdoss, Pattali Makkal Katchi: Health and family welfare

Ministers of state (independent charge)

Santosh Mohan Deb, Congress: Heavy industries and public enterprises
Jagdish Tytler, Congress: Non-resident affairs
Oscar Fernandes, Congress: Statistics and programme implementation
Renuka Choudhury, Congress: Tourism
Subodh Kant Sahay, Congress: Food Processing
Kapil Sibal, Congress: Science and technology, ocean development
Vilas Muttemwar, Congress: Non-conventional energy sources
Kumari Selja, Congress: Urban employment and poverty alleviation
Praful Patel, NCP: Civil aviation
Premchand Gupta: Company affairs

Ministers of state

E Ahamed, Indian Union Muslim League: External affairs
Suresh Pachauri, Congress: Personnel, parliamentary affairs
B K Handique: Defence, parliamentary affairs
P Lakshmi, Congress: Health and family welfare
Dasari Narayan Rao, Congress: Coal and mines
Shaqeel Ahmed, Congress: Communications & IT
Rao Indrajit Singh, Congress: External affairs
Naranbhai Rathwa, Congress: Railways
Rehman Khan, Congress: Chemicals and fertilisers
K H Muniyappa, Congress: Road transport and highways
M V Rajasekharan, Congress: Planning.
Kantilal Bhuria, Congress Agriculture, food and civil supplies, consumer affairs and public distribution
Manikrao Gavit, Congress: Home affairs
Sriprakash Jaiswal, Congress: Home affairs
Prithviraj Chavan, Congress: Prime pinister's office
Mohammed Taslimuddin, Congress: Heavy industries and public enterprises
Suryakanta Patil, NCP: Rural development, parliamentary affairs
Mohammed A A Fatmi, RJD: HRD
A Narendra, TRS: Rural development
R Velu, PMK: Railways
S S Palanimanickam, DMK: Commerce and industry
S Regupathy, DMK: Home affairs
K Venkatapathy, DMK: Law and justice
S Jegadeesan: Social Justice and empowerment
E V K S Elangovan, Congress: Petroleum and natural gas
Kanti Singh, RJD: HRD
Namo Narain Meena, Congress: Environment and forests
Jay Prakash Narayan Yadav, RJD: Water resources
Akhilesh Singh, RJD: Agriculture, food and civil supplies, consumers affairs and public distribution

A Rashtrapati Bhavan communiqué said Manmohan Singh would look after the ministries that have remain unallocated.