New Delhi: Stage appears to be set for the expansion and reshuffle of the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with names of leaders like Sarbananda Sonowal, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Varun Gandhi are doing around as possible inductees.
Although, the speculation has been there for last two days, it got some credence following appointment and rejig of Governors announced on Tuesday.
In today’s announcement, Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Thaawarchand Gehlot was moved out of the Cabinet and appointed as the Governor of Karnataka.
At present, many Union Ministers like Railway and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar and Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri have additional responsibilities of other Ministries too.
Former Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who agreed to give up the Chief Minister's post in Assam for Himanta Biswa Sarma after the BJP's re-election in the state while it was well speculated that Jyotiraditya Scindia will be inducted to the Cabinet from the day he joined BJP. He was also Union Minister of States in the Manmohan Singh led UPA Governmnet.
At present, there are 21 Cabinet ministers, nine MoS (minister of state) with independent charge, and 29 ministers of state besides PM Modi.
It is believed that the BJP's allies like JD(U) and Apna Dal can also get representation in the forthcoming reshuffle and it is expected that two are from Janata Dal (United), one from Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) of Pashupati Kumar Paras group may find berth in the expansion.
In view of impending Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh, names of Varun Gandhi, Rita Bahuguna Joshi are being speculated for the cabinet birth.
Former Bihar Deputy CM and now Rajya Sabha Member Sushil Modi is also seen as strong contenders while Maharashtra BJP leader Narayan Rane is also expected to be inducted into the Union Cabinet.
Apart from these, Member of Parliament from Ladakh, Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, Locket Chatterjee from West Bengal, Bengal BJP President Dilip Ghosh’s names are doing rounds for the possible induction in the Union Cabinet.(UNI)