Changes to the Prime Minister’s Cabinet are on the way. Details here.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to consider polls in five states next year, as well as the national election in 2024, as he increases his cabinet for the first time during his second term.
The reshuffle, which is expected in the next few days, may reward Jyotiraditya Scindia, whose defection from the Congress last year helped the BJP reclaim Madhya Pradesh, as well as Sarbananda Sonowal, who stepped down as Assam Chief Minister after the BJP won a second term.
In what would be a betrayal for Chirag Paswan, his uncle Pashupati Paras, who staged a coup against him and dissolved the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) last month, may fill the vacancy created by the death of Chirag’s father, Ram Vilas Paswan, last year.
Despite heated speculation, it is still unclear whether another ally, Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United, will eventually join the Union Cabinet. In 2019, the enraged Bihar Chief Minister turned down the BJP’s offer of a single ministry and chose to remain in office. According to sources, Mr Kumar is vying for at least two ministries. According to reports, JDU leaders Lallan Singh, Ramnath Thakur, and Santosh Kushwaha are in the running.
Sushil Modi of Bihar, Narayan Rane of Maharashtra, and Bhupendra Yadav, a veteran leader in charge of Bihar and Gujarat, are all expected to join Modi’s government.
After a month-long evaluation in which PM Modi evaluated the functioning of various ministries, names were shortlisted.
According to sources, the politically important state of Uttar Pradesh, which will vote for a new government next year, would be well-represented in this round.
Cabinet positions are rumoured to be lined up for Varun Gandhi, Ramshankar Katheria, Anil Jain, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, and Zafar Islam.
Anupriya Patel of the BJP’s Uttar Pradesh ally Apna Dal may also be invited.
Ajay Bhatt or Anil Baluni from Uttarakhand may be considered for ministries. Karnataka is anticipated to be represented by Pratap Sinha.
PM Modi is also expected to meet with leaders from Bengal, where the BJP just lost a tense election to Mamata Banerjee. The names in circulation are Jagannath Sarkar, Shantanu Thakur, and Nitheet Pramaanik.
Brijendra Singh (Haryana), Rahul Kaswan (Rajasthan), Ashwani Vaishnav (Odisha), Poonam Mahajan or Pritam Munde (Maharashtra), and Parvesh Varma or Meenakshi Lekhi are other candidates (Delhi).
According to insiders, the PM, Home Minister Amit Shah, and BJP president JP Nadda attended a series of review meetings to narrow down the candidates. The programme promises to be carefully calibrated, with a special focus on the next Lok Sabha election, in which Prime Minister Modi will seek a third term in office.
All ministries’ performance was thoroughly scrutinised, notably how they fared during the disastrous second wave of Covid.
Prakash Javadekar, Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Nitin Gadkari, Harsh Vardhan, Narendra Singh Tomar, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Smriti Irani, and Hardeep Singh Puri are among the nine ministers given additional responsibilities.
