There will be a reshuffle in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s council of ministers, confirmed BJP chief Amit Shah, but refused to say when.
The Cabinet will get a new minister of state for sports (independent charge), which is vacant after Sarbanand Sonowal became the Chief Minister of Assam.
“Whenever there will be a reshuffle, political situation will be one of the dimensions of selection,” Shah responded.
There are speculations that Modi may axe some ministers because of their poor performances and failure in achieving the government’s goals.
Senior BJP leaders like Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and Nitin Gadkari are expected to keep their Cabinet portfolios.
The allowed strength of the Cabinet is 81 and there are only 65 ministers.
“The Prime Minister can induct 16 more without dropping any minister,” a senior party functionary said.
With seven ministers from Bihar, there is speculation that two of them could be sent back to the state for party work. The Prime Minister is expected to go in for a Cabinet reshuffle by June 6, sources said.
While there is talk of the government planning to bring more UP faces into the Cabinet, it was learnt that even this exercise would be minor since the Modi Cabinet already has the maximum number of ministers from Uttar Pradesh.
Of 65 ministers in the Modi Cabinet 13, including the Prime Minister, represent the state. The major exercise, in fact, is expected to be carried out in the organisation and more RSS functionaries are expected to be drafted for party work. At this juncture in the central leadership there are five RSS men drafted for party work.
