JD(U) members could be accommodated after Cabinet reshuffle this week
Speculation is rife over the Union Cabinet reshuffle this week since BJP chief Amit Shah cancelled his 3day visit to Tamil Nadu for the third time and started meeting the union ministers.
Those joining the ministry will include members of the Janata Dal(U) of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, which formally decided on Saturday in Patna to join the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the AIADMK that merged its EPS and OPS factions in Chennai on Monday to come into the NDA fold.
Shah, along with Prime Minister Modi, also had a meeting with the BJP chief ministers, which was also attended by Bihar deputy CM Sushil Modi, Jammu and Kashmir deputy CM Nirmal Singh and Gujarat''s deputy CM Nitin Patel along with CM Vijay Rupani.
The meeting with the CMs, third since Modi came to power, was held in the evening to firm up the party''s strategy for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Modi''s focus reportedly was on speeding up the development works to bely the Opposition''s claim of promising big but doing little on ground.
The speculation of the reshuffle started doing the rounds after Shah sent a message to the party in Chennai that some urgent work in Delhi was holding him back from a trip to Tamil Nadu.
Indications are that the AIADMK will get one Cabinet berth and two posts of the ministers of state, while JD(U) having fewer MPs than AIADMK may get just one Cabinet position.
In the last two weeks, Shah has met many ministers for consultations in what is seen as laying the groundwork on behalf of Narendra Modi for the last major reshuffle of the ministry as also the organisation before the next general elections in 2019. He also met union minister and RLSP leader Upendra Kushwaha on Monday.
The ministerial reshuffle has been on the card since March when Manohar Parrikar resigned as the defence minister to return to Goa as its chief minister. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is holding the charge of the defence ministry since then.
Many more vacancies resulted in some ministers holding more than one portfolio. The latest was the additional charge of Information and Broadcasting given to Textile Minister Smriti Irani and that of Housing and Urban Affairs to steel and mines minister Narendra Singh Tomar when M Venkaiah Naidu stepped down to become the new Vice-President of India.
Indications are that a new I&B minister and a new housing and urban affairs minister will be inducted in the expected reshuffle.
The states from which the new ministers are to be chosen include Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh that go to polls in December as also Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh that are due for the Assembly elections next year.
Amit Shah is also expected to reshuffle his team, but nobody in the party is able to indicate the possible changes since he holds such decisions close to his chest. He reportedly asked at least two or three union ministers, including Health Minister J P Nadda, if they would take up the organisational responsibilities.
The BJP is looking for a CM face in Himachal Pradesh and Nadda may be projected for the purpose, the party sources said.