TIL Desk/National/New Delhi/ The much-awaited reshuffle in the Modi cabinet will take place on Sunday in which about half-a-dozen ministers are expected to make way for several new faces, including those from the Bharatiya Janata Party’s allies.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will undertake the third and probably last major recasting of his council of ministers before the next Lok Sabha polls in 2019 and the exercise is being seen as a balancing act between his thrust on merit and demands of realpolitics. “A process has been set in motion for the swearing-in ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan around 10 am on Sunday,” a top government official said.
While four junior ministers — Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Sanjiv Kumar Balyan, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahendra Nath Pandey — had resigned on Thursday ahead of the Rejig. Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya is also learnt to have resigned on Friday. The party had asked them to quit. Two cabinet ministers, Uma Bharti and Kalraj Mishra, have also offered to resign, said BJP sources amid speculations that there may be a few more exits.
Mishra met the prime minister on Friday and offered to quit, a source close to him said. Bharti, who is the water resources minister, said only Shah or anyone on his behalf can speak on the issue. BJP general secretary Bhupender Yadav, party’s vice president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, Prahlad Patel, Suresh Angadi, Satyapal Singh, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Anurag Thakur, Shobha Karandlaje, Maheish Girri and Prahlad Joshi are being talked about within the party as among the probable ministers.
