Stage set for major shake up in Modi Cabinet

OBCs and Dalits may get preference, Focus on poll-bound states UP, Gujarat and Manipur

New Delhi: Around 20 new Ministers are expected to be sworn in on Wednesday evening in the first major shake up in the Narendra Modi Ministry since the Prime Minister took over the reins for the second time on May 30, 2019.

More representation is likely to be given to Dalits, OBCs, tribals and women even as some prominent names in the reckoning for cabinet berths are two former Chief Ministers Narayan Rane (from Maharashtra) and Sarbananda Sonowal (from Assam).

Former Congress leader in Madhya Pradesh, Jyotiraditya Scindia, also seen as a probable reached the national capital. So did Sonowal, who missed Assam Chief Minister's post despite party recording a convincing victory, and also Rane, a former Shiv Sena leader. 

Names of New Delhi MP Meenakshi Lekhi, Bhupender Yadav, Sudhanshu Trivedi, Sushil Kumar Modi and Rajeev Chandrashekhar are also in the probable list.

Final touches would be given only on Wednesday. The present cabinet is likely to meet around
11 am while the swearing in could take place at 6 pm, sources said.  
However, there has been no official word yet.
There is also speculation on possible resignation of some ministers. 
The expansion would also fine tune alliance politics for BJP as other than Republican Party leader
Ramdas Athawale, there is no other NDA constituent in the government now.
The Shiv Sena and the Shiromani Akali Dal have parted ways and Lok Janshakti Party founder
Ram Vilas Paswan expired last year. JD(U) did not join the ministry in 2019. 
The appointment of a senior lawmaker and Social Justice and Empowerment Minister, Thaawarchand Gehlot,
as new Karnataka Governor, has caused yet another ministerial vacancy.
Gehlot's exit would necessitate appointment of a new Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha.

Gehlot's departure also created one more vacant slot in the BJP’s Parliamentary Board,  where he has been
the only Dalit leader.

JD(U) leader R C P Singh and LJP's Pashupati Kumar Paras, who recently voiced displeasure
against nephew Chirag Paswan, also reached Delhi.
The names of Rajiv Ranjan "Lalan" Singh and Santosh Kumar were also being considered. 

States such as poll-bound Uttar Pradesh are certainly in focus for the cabinet expansion
and reshuffle with sources indicating that Apna Dal leader Anupriya Patel may return to the
Council of Ministers. She served as MoS Health in Modi's first government too.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and joint general secretaries Krishna Gopal and Manmohan Vaidya have been 
also reported prior to the crucial exercise. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also held
a series of meetings during his recent visit to Delhi. 
Names of Bhupender Yadav, Sudhanshu Trivedi, Sushil Modi, Rajeev Chandrashekhar 
and G V L Narasimha Rao are also doing the rounds.
BJP chief J P Nadda held a series of meetings with Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP general secretary 
(organisation) B L Santhosh. Former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje also met Santhosh.
From Rajasthan, Churu MP Rahul Kaswan and Sikar lawmaker Sumedhanand Saraswati were also being 
considered. 
West Bengal may also see enhanced representation in the Union Council of Ministers with names of 
Coachbehar MP Nisith Pramanik and Shantanu Thakur who represents Matua community and is MP from
remote Bangaon also doing the rounds.
The names of BJP's Ladakh MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, a Muslim MP, Syed Zafar Islam, 
BJP UP chief Swatantra Dev Singh, Pankaj Chaudhry (MP from Maharajganj) and Varun Gandhi are 
among the probables.
 
PM Modi's cabinet expansion and reshuffle always spring a few surprises.
In Modi 1.0, during the first expansion sudden inclusion of Suresh Prabhu notwithstanding 
non-clearance from Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray was one such episode.
Again in 2017, Modi sprang a surprise by making Nirmala Sitharaman country's first woman Defence Minister.
Subsequently in 2019 when took over the reins for the second term, Sushma Swaraj's exclusion essentially
on health grounds and appointment of career diplomat Dr S Jaishankar as new External Affairs Minister
was a major surprise.
Suresh Prabhu surprisingly missed a berth in May 2019.

State assembly polls are due in as many as seven states including Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat in 2022 and hence all eyes will be on probable entrants into the Ministry from these states.
 
Ahmedabad West (SC) MP, Kirit Solanki and Gujarat BJP President CR Patil are likely to move to the government.

From poll-bound Manipur, sources said that BJP MP Rajkumar Ranjan Singh has been asked to reach the national capital.

New ‘Ministry of Cooperation’ set up:

Seeking to achieve ‘Sahkar se Samriddhi’ - Prosperity through Cooperation - ahead of the much-anticipated Cabinet reshuffle, a new ‘Ministry of Co-operation’ has been set up.

This ministry will provide a separate administrative, legal and policy framework for strengthening the cooperative movement in the country. It will help deepen Co-operatives as a true people-based movement reaching up to the grassroots, sources said.

This move is largely seen as one of the multi-pronged strategies to deal with the challenges thrown by the Covid19 crisis.

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