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In the midst of hectic ministry making, the Congress leadership has taken out time to deliberate on the future of one of its senior most leaders who is ill in hospital, Priya Ranjan Das Munshi.
Sources confirmed that his wife, first time MP, Deepa Das Munshi who contested and won from the Raiganj constituency in West Bengal is likely to be sworn in as a Minister of State when the Manmohan Singh council of ministers take oath.
An exception is being made for first term MP Deepa to ensure that Munshi is provided with the same level of medical care as he has been receiving for the last many months. In October last the then I&B Minister suffered a massive heart attack and was hospitalised.
While he recovered over a period of time and was taken off all life support systems, the lack of oxygen to the brain for a crucial 9 to 12 minutes led to non-recognition and memory loss.
Deepa Das Munshi, a former actress, is not a new comer to politics. She was an MLA in the West Bengal assembly as well as an office bearer in the Pradesh Congress Committee, from where she has made a transition to being an MP. The couple have a young son.
It is learnt that in the party meeting held to discuss the names of ministers, it was Pranab Mukherjee who sought that Deepa be made a minister for the sake of Munshi and this was finally agreed to.