Amid the buzz over a Cabinet reshuffle, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
According to reports, speculation is rife that new faces could be inducted into the Modi Cabinet ahead of next year’s crucial Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.
The meeting followed the resignation of Union Minister George Kurian, who served as Minister of State (MoS) for Minority Affairs, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying.
The BJP also didn’t renominate Union Minister Ravneet Bittu after his Rajya Sabha term ended. While Bittu is yet to resign, he has already indicated that he may be moved to Punjab ahead of next year’s Assembly elections, leaving one more vacant post.
Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Corporate Affairs Harsh Malhotra has been appointed as Delhi BJP president. MoS Finance Pankaj Chaudhary was last year appointed as UP BJP chief.
Given the saffron party’s precedent of ‘one man, one post’, both Malhotra and Chaudhary are also expected to step down in the near future, leaving two more portfolios vacant.
Raghav Chadha, Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab, who has merged with the BJP, along with six other AAP MPs, is also rumoured to find a place in the Modi Cabinet.
Some other dissident MPs from the TMC, who have recently joined the little-known Nationalist Citizens Party of India, may also be inducted into the Cabinet.
Amid the recent rebellion in Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) by six party MPs, it was reported that one more MP was allegedly ready to jump ship, but he demanded a Union Cabinet post.
This also suggests that Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena could also be accommodated in the Cabinet.
PM Modi’s meeting with President Murmu also holds significance as it comes a day ahead of the Union Cabinet meeting.
Chaired by Prime Minister Modi, the Union Cabinet is scheduled to meet on June 24 at 11 am.
While the agenda of the meeting has not been revealed, the Cabinet is likely to clear several initiatives of public interest.