Modi Cabinet likely to get a dozen new faces today
QUERY ON ALLIES Performers, pollbound states likely to benefit in third revamp
President Ram Nath Kovind is likely to administer the oath of office to about a dozen new ministers at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday morning in the third rejig of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s council of ministers since he took over three years ago.
In what appeared to be a lastminute snag, the JD(U), the latest entrant in the ruling NDA, said on Saturday evening that it had received no communication about the Cabinet reshuffle. Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function in Patna, chief minister Nitish Kumar said, “I came to know about it (induction of JD(U) leaders into the Cabinet) from media only. There is no such move. Nor did I get any information from the Centre regarding inclusion of JD (U) leaders.”
Stage was set for the induction of two leaders from Kumar’s party, RCP Singh and Santosh Kumar, in the Union Cabinet, but his remarks seem to indicate some differences among BJP’s partners. JD(U) insiders said everything was going well with the plan until the Shiv Sena raised an objection to the offer of two seats to the party. Shiv Sena has one minister in Modi’s team.
Sena leaders, however, maintained that they had heard nothing from the Centre on this.
There was also uncertainty about the AIADMK’s participation in the NDA government, given the continuing internal bickering in the Dravidian party following rebellion by Sasikala’s newphew TTV Dinakaran and other MLAs.
Labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya resigned on Friday, adding to the list of at least seven ministers who have put in their papers in the past 72 hours to make way for new faces.
In reorganising his team, Modi is expected to strike a balance between his agenda of governance — by plugging gaps in terms of competence and dynamism in his team — and political expediency, by giving representation to about half-a-dozen states that go to polls by the end of 2018, and reflecting the ruling party’s new social engineering formula.
BJP sources said Modi is likely to put a premium on performance in the re-allocation of portfolios. This has also been the indication from the list of ministers asked to put in their papers.
Of the 73 members of the Union council of ministers, at least eight are likely to be edged out. There can be a maximum of 81 members, which gives the Prime Minister the option of inducting 15 new faces. He is, however, unlikely to fill all the slots.
Union minister of micro, small and medium enterprises Kalraj Mishra, who has been silent on rumours of his resignation, confirmed on Saturday that he had indeed submitted his resignation to the Prime Minister the previous day.
He said he had offered to resign earlier also, but the party declined it as he was required to campaign in the last UP elections.
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Trump administration announced Kenneth Juster as the next US ambassador to India, filling a crucial position that has been vacant since Donald Trump became president this January.
Juster, 62, was deputy assistant to the president for International Economic Affairs and deputy director of the National Economic Council, and had emerged as the leading interlocutor for the administration with India.
He was a key part of the White House faction that had come to be branded the “globalists”, led by the president’s chief economic advisor Gary Cohn and included Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner, both advisers to the president.
Kenneth Juster’s appointment comes as expected as he had previously served as under secretary of Commerce from 2001-2005, counselor (acting) of the State Department from 1992-1993, and deputy and senior adviser to the deputy secretary of State from 1989-1992.
Juster holds a law degree from the Harvard Law School, a master’s degree in Public Policy from the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, and a bachelor’s degree in Government from Harvard College.
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