Indian PM names deputy

Mr Advani (right) is tipped for the very top

Indian Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani has been promoted to the newly-created post of deputy premier.

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee made the move a day after announcing he planned a major cabinet reshuffle to revive the fortunes of the BJP-led government.

Lal Krishna Advani, home minister, will be designated as deputy prime minister

Presidential statement

He spent Saturday with senior cabinet colleagues going over names of possible candidates to be switched, officials said.

Mr Advani, regarded as a BJP hardliner, had been widely tipped for the new post and is a front-runner to replace Mr Vajpayee.

A statement released by the president's office said he would continue in his capacity as home minister.

Earlier in the day, an official source in Delhi said External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh and Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha were likely to swap portfolios in the reshuffle, due on Monday.

There has also been speculation that the reshuffle is primarily aimed at replacing Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, who has been criticised by BJP members for failing to promote economic reforms to the electorate.

PM-in-waiting

Analysts say that promoting Mr Advani signals a more formal shift within the party towards hardline policies.

The BJP has not fared well in the polls

He has been a key figure in promoting Hindu revivalism in India in the past 10 years.

They say his elevation to deputy premier also effectively anoints him unofficially as Mr Vajpayee's successor.

The BJP's move to the right comes despite widespread criticism of the party following widespread religious violence in the western state of Gujarat earlier this year.

Apart from appealing to hardline Hindu sentiment among the electorate, correspondents say the BJP has also tried to woo voters with a tough stance against Pakistan over Kashmir.

Poll losses

The cabinet shake-up comes midway through the government's five-year term.

It follows a series of catastrophic results for the BJP in recent state elections.

Mr Vajpayee said the reshuffle would "infuse vigour and rejuvenate" the cabinet as it looks ahead to the next general elections, due by 2004.

The BJP lost control of several states including Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous and politically significant state, in February's polls.

The party currently rules only four of the country's 29 states.

Mr Vajpayee said some new faces would be drafted into the cabinet from both the BJP and its allies in the country's 20-member ruling coalition.