PM Narendra Modi
With an eye on the 2019 polls, PM Narendra Modi is going to announce a new set of council of ministers on Sunday as a cabinet reshuffle is set in motion ahead of the next general election.
With a confirmation to this effect coming from the government, all eyes are on Sunday to know who makes the cut and who goes.
Many faces have already put in their papers and there are some whose names are doing the rounds for a prominent place in the cabinet.
The swearing-in ceremony will take place at 10 am, at Rashtrapati Bhawan, a first under new President Ram Nath Kovind. If sources are to be believed then this is Prime Minister Modi’s third — and final reshuffle.
Once the swearing-in ceremony is over, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be leaving for China to attend the BRICS Summit.
There has been much speculation about a reshuffle eversince BJP president Amit Shah met several union ministers informing them of different roles as Gujarat, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh elections near. There is also talk of some MPs from these states getting posts in the new council.
On Friday night a top level meet was held under the aegis of Rajnath Singh in the capital where the overhaul has been discussed. Even the Mathura RSS meet saw the matter figuring prominently. A meeting between Amit Shah and the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat is likely. The BJP government will also be issuing names of 5 new Governors in the coming times say sources.
Among the names that are likely to make the cut as cabinet ministers are Suresh Angadi, Shobha Karandlaje, Prahlad Joshi(Karnataka), Satyapal Singh (UP), Prahlad Patel (Madhya Pradesh ), Vinay Sahasrabuddhe (Maharashtra), Himanta Biswa Sarma (Assam), Maheish Giri (Delhi), Anurag Thakur (Himachal Pradesh), Bhupendra Yadav (Rajasthan) JD(U)’s R C P Singh and Santosh Kushwaha.
At least eight ministers, including Uma Bharti, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Sanjeev Balyan, Faggan Singh Kulaste, Kalraj Mishra and Bandaru Dattareya have resigned since late Thursday night.
At least one minister is being dropped on charges of financial impropriety.
This minister was on radar of intelligence agencies for a while and his phone was being tapped by the CBI
Radha Mohan Singh has resigned after facing flak over the death of protesting farmers in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur.
Three vacancies in the Council of Ministers, arise out of the exit of Manohar Parrikar and M Venkaiah Naidu. Thirdly passing away of Anil Madhav Dave who was MoS Environment and Climate Change (Independent Charge) created a vacancy as well.
Some of the others in the reckoning are Nishikant Dubey, Pratap Simha, and Varun Gandhi.
Maharashtra MP Poonam Mahajan, Abhishek Singh and Heena Gavit also figure in the list of probables.
Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari could get charge of the crucial Railways ministry, and the present Rail minister Suresh Prabhu will be shifted to another department.
AIADMK leader and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambi Durai met Shah on Thursday, leading to speculation that the party might become part of the Union Council of Ministers.
It is also speculated that either TMC leader Dinesh Trivedi could take charge of the railway ministry or that a mega transport and mobility ministry could be created under Nitin Gadkari for him.
Right now, the council of ministers has 72 ministers – 24 of cabinet rank, 12 MoS (independent charge) and 36 MoS. The total number of ministers in the council cannot exceed 81. This means Modi can add nine more ministers for now.
Young faces will have a daunting task to prove their skills ahead of the next election as part of the cabinet.
Modi’s BJP prides itself as a government of the young.
BJP tops the list of parties in Parliament which has the highest number of MPs under 40.
The last cabinet reshuffle took place in July 2016 where Modi inducted 19 new faces and elevated MoS for Environment Prakash Javadekar to cabinet rank. Five junior ministers were also dropped.
Modi has another 18 months to deliver before the 2019 General Elections to Lok Sabha begins.
The swearing-in of PM Modi and 45 ministers had taken place on May 26, 2014. The council of ministers comprised 23 of Cabinet rank, 10 ministers of state (independent charge) and remaining 12 ministers of state.
PM Modi undertook first cabinet reshuffle on November 9, 2014.
The second reshuffle took place on July 5, 2016.
It would be interesting to see whether the size of council of ministers touches its highest of 78 so far.
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