CABINET RESHUFFLE LIKELY THIS WEEK
AIADMK, JD(U) likely to get berths; Amit Shah postpones Tamil Nadu trip
Before Prime Minister Narendra Modi re jigged his council of minister son June 5 last year, B ha ra ti ya Jan at a Party( B JP) chief Am it Shah had met those who would be dropped, promoted or shifted. On Monday, the party president met Union ministers Raj iv Pr a tap Rudy, Upend ra Ku shwa ha and Ch aud ha ry Birender Singh, adding to the buzz that another re shuffle was likely later this week. Mo di and Shah also met chief minister sand deputy CMs of BJP-ruled states. Adding to the anticipation, Shah postponed his scheduled three-day visit( August 22 to 24) to Tamil Nadu.
Before Prime Minister Narendra Modi rejigged his council of ministers on June 5 last year, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah had met those who would be dropped, promoted or shifted. On Monday, the party president met Union ministers Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Upendra Kushwaha and Chaudhary Birender Singh, adding to the buzz that another reshuffle was likely later this week.
Modi and Shah also met with chief ministers and deputy CMs of BJP-ruled states. Adding to the anticipation, Shah postponed his scheduled three-day visit (August 22 to 24) to Tamil Nadu.
With the merger of the two factions of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) on Monday and Janata Dal (United) officially joining the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Patna on Saturday, both will have members in the Union Cabinet, commensurate to their parliamentary strengths.
Atleasttwo, ifnotmore, Cabinetministersare likely to be dropped and given gubernatorial assignments. Several of the Raj Bhavans, including Patna and Chennai, are currently vacant.
The AIADMK has 37 members in the Lok Sabha and 13 in the Rajya Sabha, and is expected to get two Cabinet and two minister of state berths. Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai could find a spot in the Cabinet. This could mean a senior Shiv Sena member of the House might succeed him. The JD(U) with two members in the Lok Sabha and 10 in the Rajya Sabha is likely to get one Cabinet and one minister of state berth.
With AIADMK and JD(U) joining the NDA, the BJP-led coalition is set to have better numbers in the Rajya Sabha. Earlier this month, the BJP became the single largest party in the Rajya Sabha. But the NDA is still short of the majority mark of 123 in the 245-member House. Some Opposition leaders believe Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party could gravitate towards the NDA in the run up to the Gujarat Assembly polls scheduled by the end of this year.
Sources said BJP General Secretary P Muralidhar Rao and Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman played pivotal roles to facilitate the AIADMK merger.
Other factors determining the Cabinet reshuffle would be to fill vacancies. Defence, Environment, Urban Development, and Information and Broadcasting are some of the portfolios which currently are being held as additional charges by ministers. Some of the ministers of state with independent charge could be promoted to the Cabinet rank. Performance of ministers like Piyush Goyal and Manoj Sinha has come for praise from the PM and BJP chief. Assam has no representation in the Union council of ministers after Sarbananda Sonowalmoved to his home state. Elections are due in Karnataka by mid-2018, and in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan by end-2018.
The Congress-led Opposition on Monday announced setting up of a committee to “save composite culture” under the leadership of rebel JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati also rejected media reports about her calling for a united Opposition in a poster uploaded on Twitter by what seemed to be the handle of her party. Mayawati said her party does not have an account on the microblogging site. The poster featuredMayawati, alongwith SamajwadiParty’s Akhilesh Yadav, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Lalu Prasad and Congress president Sonia Gandhi.