Ahead of the swearing-in of the Prime Minister-elect, confabulations involving leaders from the BJP and its allies in NDA over Government formation marked the day even as netas across the coalition remained clueless about the composition of the Narendra Modi Cabinet.
Despite just a day to go for the PM-designate to take the oath of office and secrecy on Monday and speculation rife about the portfolio distribution, leaders admitted only Modi knows who will be entrusted with what responsibility in the new Government.Several senior BJP leaders on Saturday met Modi and BJP chief Rajnath Singh. Modi’s close aide Amit Shah and BJP General Secretary JP Nadda were among the first to meet Modi at Gujarat Bhavan where the PM-elect has been staying for the past few days. Following his meeting with Modi, Shah later met Rajnath Singh.
Senior party leader and former party chief M Venkaiah Naidu reached Gujarat Bhavan thereafter and Uma Bharti, who won from Jhansi lok Sabha seat, also met Modi during the day. NDA constituent Republican Party of India (RPI) chief Ramdas Athawale too met Modi. Athawale later expressed his view that all NDA allies should get a representation in the Government.Athawale has already gone on record revealing his ambition and hopes. “I will get a good Cabinet Ministry in the Government. I am confident that it will be a strong Government,” Athawale told reporters recently.
There was a steady stream of visitors at Rajnath Singh’s Ashoka Road residence also. Prominent leaders who met the BJP chief included party MPs Maneka Gandhi and Udit Raj and senior Delhi unit leader and Rajya Sabha member Vijay Goel. Former Union Minister in the NDA Government ID Swamy and BJP general secretary Ram lal too met Singh.The Government formation exercise is in full swing amid speculation that Modi will not have jumbo Ministry and will prefer to stick to his “less Government, maximum Government” mantra which he so zealously espoused during his election campaign also.
Besides the hopefuls from the BJP camp, leaders of NDA allies Telugu Desam Party and Shiv Sena are also likely to hold meetings with Modi and Singh over portfolio distribution. TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu said “We will discuss our needs with him. After that we will discuss other things. The alliance is to ensure development. It is beyond posts and politics.”Naidu has won the Assembly elections of Seemandhra and is all set to take oath as the first Chief Minister of the truncated Andhra Pradesh. The TDP outshone Congress and YSR Congress of Jaganmohan Reddy.
Confirming his presence at Modi’s swearing-in ceremony, Naidu said, “We have had a pre-poll alliance with the BJP. We have worked together during the election too, (and) will attend his oath taking ceremony.”Over the last few days, lJP chief Ramvilas Paswan and Upendra Kushwaha of the Rashtriya lok Samta Party have also held confabulations with Modi in the run-up to the Government formation. Paswan, who has earlier held Cabinet berths in both the NDA and UPA Governments, is likely to bag a key Ministry.
The BJP has crossed the magical figure of 272 on its own for forming a stable Government at the Centre, but the party has taken a principled stand that the NDA allies would be accommodated in the Council of Ministers. Modi also made it clear during his acceptance speech in the Parliament on the day he was unanimously elected the BJP parliamentary party leader. He said despite the BJP’s majority, NDA allies will be important to the party.However, with the BJP gaining the required strength for Government formation, the allies do not have much room for maneuver in getting Cabinet berths.