Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to make a big reshuffle in his cabinet today. Just before this, several ministers including Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister DV Sadananda Gowda, Labor Minister Santosh Gangwar and Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank have resigned. Ministers of State for Education Sanjay Dhotre, Rao Saheb Danve, Ratan Lal Kataria, Pratap Sarangi and Dev Shree Banerjee have also resigned from the Union Cabinet.
These ministers have resigned at a time when new ministers are going to resign at six o’clock in the evening. Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with the potential faces of the ministerial post at his official residence. During this, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President JP Nadda were also present at the Prime Minister’s residence.
BJP general secretary Bhupendra Yadav, Rajya Sabha member from Madhya Pradesh Jyotiraditya Scindia, Rajya Sabha member from Maharashtra Narayan Rane, former Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Haryana MP from Sirsa Sunita Duggal, BJP MP from Delhi were among those who attended the meeting at the Prime Minister’s residence. Meenakshi Lekhi, MP from Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar in Uttarakhand, Ajay Bhatt, MP from Udupi Chikmagalur in Karnataka, Shobha Karandlaje, MP from Beed, Maharashtra, Pritam Munde, MP from Bhiwandi, Maharashtra, Kapil Patil, MP from Dindori in Maharashtra, Bharti Pawar, Uttar Pradesh K Kheri MP Ajay Mishra and West Bengal’s Bangaon MP Shantanu Thakur are prominent.
Apart from these, Union Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of State for Agriculture, Purushottam Rupala and the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Transport as well as Minister of State in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers Mansukh Bhai Mandaviya were also present in the meeting held at the Prime Minister’s residence. It is believed that these ministers can be promoted.
Among allies, RCP Singh of Janata Dal (United), Anupriya Patel of Apna Dal (S) and Pashupati Paras of Paras faction of Lok Janshakti Party were also present at the Prime Minister’s residence.
It is believed that all the leaders meeting the Prime Minister will take the oath of office at six o’clock in the evening at the Ashok Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan, following the Covid protocol, in the oath-taking ceremony.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is about to reshuffle and expand the Union Council of Ministers for the first time after starting his second term as Prime Minister in May 2019 with 57 ministers.
In the current Council of Ministers, there are 53 ministers, including Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawarchand Gehlot, who has been made Governor of Karnataka, and according to the rules, the maximum number of ministers in the Union Council of Ministers can be 81.