Official sources said on Friday that the reshuffle of the Union Cabinet will take place on Sunday at 1:00 pm.
There has been intense speculation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will expand his Union Council of Ministers on Sunday in which about 10 new faces, including Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, are likely to be inducted in an exercise that may also cover some allies.
The reshuffle will happen two days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves on a three-nation 10-day tour. By then, President Pranab Mukherjee would have also returned on Saturday from a trip to Bhutan.
There is a possibility some ministers with independent charge could be elevated in the first recasting of his ministry Modi will be undertaking since he assumed power in May.
Parrikar, who is tipped to get defence portfolio, went as far as to indicate the sure possibility of his induction when he said he will take up the responsibility at the Centre “if the nation requires” his services.
Among the names doing the rounds for induction are Jayant Sinha, son of former Union minister Yashwant Sinha, Anurag Thakur from Himachal Pradesh, Jat leader from Haryana Birender Singh, Bhumiar leader from Bihar Giriraj Singh or Bhola Singh, Col Sonaram Chaudhary and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, both of Rajasthan, and Hansraj Ahir from Maharashtra.
The IIT-Mumbai graduate and a man with a clean image, Parrikar had a meeting with Modi and BJP President Amit Shah on Wednesday and he met party MLAs in Panaji yesterday, possibly discussing his successor.
He said Shah had asked him to take up an assignment at the Centre, if offered, and made it clear that he was willing to shoulder the responsibility.
However, Parrikar did not disclose whether Modi had offered him the defence portfolio during their meeting.
There was further activity in the political circles with TDP leader and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu apparently getting a telephone call from Modi when he was in the midst of a programme at the India Economic Summit here.
Asked about the call and the Cabinet expansion, he only remarked that everything will be known in a couple of days. When pressed further, he repeated the same answer but added in a lighter vein, “He is trying to seek information from me and I am trying to hide information from him.”
