Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to give a big shake-up to his Cabinet on Saturday. As a precursor to the mega exercise, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Sanjeev Balyan, and Faggan Singh Kulaste resigned from the Council of Ministers on Thursday. Making room for new faces, several others Union Ministers too “offered” to resign under directive from the party leadership.
Among those who have offered to resign are Union Minister Kalraj Mishra, Uma Bharti, and Minister of State for Human Resource Development Mahendra Nath Pandey, who was appointed Uttar Pradesh State BJP chief.
BJP president Amit Shah on Thursday held detailed consultations with the PM and it is understood that they have exchanged views on organisational “changes” that may revitalise the party before it goes into full-fledged election mode, in the run up to the 2019 general elections, sources said. The last Cabinet reshuffle took place in July last year.
Kalraj Mishra is likely to be offered a gubernatorial assignment, sources said. By appointing Pandey as the UP BJP chief, the party has made sure the Brahmin community will not be upset with Mishra’s removal.
Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh may see his portfolio changed. The same could be the case with Civil Aviation Minister Gajapathi Raju.
last week, Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu too had offered to resign taking “full moral responsibility” for the recent train accidents. However, the PM had asked him to wait.
With so many vacancies created, the Cabinet reshuffle could be a major exercise as different Ministers are holding more than half a dozen portfolio as additional charge. Rudy is expected to make way for the inclusion of a JD(U) member in the Cabinet.
Rudy and Agriculture Minister Radhamohan Singh are two Rajput Ministers from Bihar. So Rudy’s removal will not impact the caste balance, which is such a sensitive issue in Bihar politics. Rudy may be given some important post in the party.
However, the faction-ridden AIADMK is not likely to be invited to join the Cabinet.
Talk of a reshuffle gained ground after the BJP last month chose its senior leader M Venkaiah Naidu as its vice-presidential candidate. The portfolios he handled, Information & Broadcasting and Housing and Urban Development, were respectively given to Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Narendra Singh Tomar.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is already holding charge of the Defence Ministry after Manohar Parrikar resigned to become Goa Chief Minister. Union Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan is holding additional charge of the Environment portfolio following the demise of Anil Madhav Dave in May.
After meeting Shah earlier in the day, Jaitley suggested that he may not hold charge of the Defence Ministry for long.
The Opposition has been criticising the Government for not having a “full-time” Defence Minister amid border tensions with Pakistan and China.
Apart from holding talks with the PM on the Cabinet reshuffle, the BJP president met several party leaders, to strategies for the Gujarat Assembly polls where the party aims to win 150 out of the 182 Assembly seats and score the fifth consecutive victory.
Jaitley, who has been made the State’s election in-charge, as well as Narendra Singh, Jitendra Singh, PP Chaudhury and Niramala Sitharaman — the four co-incharges — met Shah at his residence and were joined by senior organisational leaders, including general secretaries Ram lal and Bhupender Yadav.
“Detailed discussions were held over the Gujarat polls. We have kept our eyes on ‘Mission-150’ and will work with enthusiasm and energy to achieve it,” Yadav, who is in-charge of the State’s affairs, later told newspersons.
Gujarat BJP chief Jitubhai Vaghani too attended the meeting. The Assembly polls are slated for later this year.
In the last elections in 2012 when Modi was the State's Chief Minister, the BJP had won 116 seats. In 2007 and 2002, two other polls it fought under Modi, it had won 117 and 127 seats.