Modi cabinet rejig on cards, Shah cancels visit

BJP president Amit Shah’s last minute cancellation of his three-day Tamil Nadu trip has sparked off speculation of a Union Cabinet reshuffle.

The rejig may see induction of new faces to accommodate the NDA allies and drop of some non-performing ministers.

Shah was scheduled to fly to Chennai on Tuesday as part of his nationwide tour to expand the party’s base and seek ground report ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha
elections.

But, the BJP chief cancelled his visit to stay back in the national capital, party sources said. After the JD(U)’s formal announcement on joining the NDA, the BJP’s ruling coalition partner in Bihar will be rewarded with a berth in the Modi government.

The buzz among the political circles is that the JD(U) may get one or two portfolios depending on negotiations with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. There are already half-a-dozen Union ministers from Bihar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi may induct more leaders from the South into his government, which, a senior BJP leader said, was crucial to the party’s expansion plan in the non-Hindi speaking belt. The swiftness at which the merger of the two AIADMK factions took place is being looked at with curiosity as it may join the NDA.

In addition, the BJP sources did not rule out giving more chances to leaders from poll-bound Karnataka.

Besides this, Modi has to fill up vacancies in defence, urban development, environment, and information and broadcasting ministries that arose after Manohar Parrikar’s shift to Goa as the chief minister, M Venkaiah Naidu’s election as the country’s vice president and Anil Dave’s death.