Cabinet reshuffle set in motion as ministers begin to quit posts

NEWDELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi set in motion the reshuffle of his council of ministers with the resignation of at least half-adozen ministers, according to sources in the ruling BJP and the government.

HT could independently confirm the resignation of skill development minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy, minister of state for human resource development Mahendra Nath Pandey and minister of state for water resources Sanjiv Baliyan.

Sources in the party said that at least three other ministers were likely to quit, including two ministers of Cabinet rank — small and medium enterprises minister Kalraj Mishra and water resources minister Uma Bharti. While Bharti met BJP president Amit Shah on Wednes- day, Mishra called on him on Thursday. Party sources said these were routine meetings.

Rudy was among three ministers — the other two were steel minister Choudhury Birendra Singh and minister of state for human ressource development Upendra Kushwaha — who met the BJP president last week.

One of the ministers who submitted his resignation to party general secretary (organisation) Ram Lal on Thursday told HT that he had been asked to step down. Even during the last reshuffle in July last year, sources said, ministers were asked to submit their resignations to the party leadership first.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be out of the country from September 3 to September 7 for the Brics summit in China and a state visit to Myanmar. President Ram Nath Kovind is scheduled to visit Tirupati on Friday and will return to Delhi on Saturday afternoon, making September 2 the most likely date for the reshuffle.

The latest reshuffle will be the third after Modi came to power in 2014. Among the ministers who resigned, Pandey was named the Uttar Pradesh BJP chief earlier in the day.