NEW DELHI: Six months after he assumed charge, set off a series of reforms and announced some eye-catching schemes, and even charioted two massive wins in Haryana and Maharashtra, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to expand his Cabinet by inducting several new faces.
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Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s name emerged at the top of the heap as the likely new defence minister in order to relieve incumbent Arun Jaitley, who holds dual charge of the high pressure Finance Ministry as well. As Parrikar called on the Prime Minister at his residence in the evening, speculation over his joining the Cabinet got further currency.
Sources said the first half of Sunday is the likely day when additional members of Modi’s team will take oath, two days ahead of the Prime Minister’s 10-day long trip to Myanmar, Australia and Fiji and ahead of the Winter session of Parliament. Modi will return on November 20.
The likely Cabinet expansion later this week would give sufficient time for the new inductees to learn the ropes before the Winter session. The Cabinet ministers are called to answer questions and participate in debates related to their ministry in Parliament.
Like all of the PM’s moves, the current Cabinet expansion too was kept under wraps over who will make the cut. When asked about who all will be part of the Cabinet, a top BJP leader said, “Its the PM’s prerogative to pick his team.”
Apart from Parrikar, whose name is doing the rounds to end the dual-portfolio situation in the Cabinet, the other likely inductees could be from states that are going to polls in the future. Names like Giriraj Singh, the mercurial Bhumihar leader from Bihar who had supported Modi in the past; former finance minister Yashwant Sinha’s son Jayant Sinha from Jharkhand; Jat leader Sonaram Chaudhary from Rajasthan were in the reckoning keeping in mind the upcoming polls and the caste factor.
States like Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh are likely to see more representation in the Cabinet. Even Haryana and Maharashtra, which gave a huge boost to the party and in particular to Modi’s stock, are likely to get more representation in the Cabinet.
Similar to the last time when Modi picked his team, loyalty and hard work are the two factors which will form the basis for getting a Cabinet berth.
The expansion of the Cabinet may also come in handy to sort out the BJP-Sena equation in Maharashtra, currently under severe strain.