<div align="justify">A large reshuffle of the Union Cabinet is slated for the first week of September even as portfolios held by Venkaiah Naidu were reallocated following his resignation as Union minister on his nomination as NDA's vice-presidential candidate on Tuesday.<br /><br />Textile Minister Smriti Irani got the additional charge of information and broadcasting Ministry, which was held by Naidu.<br /><br />The other portfolio of urban development, which was with Naidu, was given to Narendra Singh Tomar, who has been handling rural Development and panchayati raj.<br /><br />Earlier, shortly before Naidu filed his nomination papers, President Pranab Mukherjee accepted his resignation with immediate effect, said a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique. <br /><br />The proposed reshuffle in the first week of September is expected to be a larger exercise as Prime Minister Narendra Modi intends to carry out a revamp, rewarding those ministers who have performed well and, perhaps, showing the door to others.<br /><br />Since he became PM, Modi has carried out only two Cabinet reshuffles and expansions — in November 2014 and July 2016. <br /><br />Modi will begin consultation with BJP chief Amit Shah and other party leaders after the current monsoon session of Parliament concludes on August 11.<br /><br />Top BJP officials confirmed that "performance criteria" would be the bench mark. <br /><br />Modi wishes to "re-energise" the Union Council of Ministers with a lot of younger faces and meet the development targets set before the Lok Sabha polls of 2019. <br /><br />A number of ministers of state who have handled important portfolios as an independent charge could be promoted to the Cabinet rank.<br /><br />Most importantly, the exercise should see appointment of a full-fledged Cabinet minister for defence. <br /><br />Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has held the additional charge of defence since Manohar Parrikar moved to Goa as chief minister. <br /><br />The government has come under flak from the opposition for the absence of full-fledged defence minister when India has been facing the military stand-off with China in Bhutan. <br /> <br />When Union minister Anil Madhav Dave passed away on May 18, the portfolio of environment, forests and climate change held by him was handed to science and technology minister Harsh Vardhan.<br /><br />With less than two years to go for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, a third expansion and reshuffle could also see senior BJP leaders who are in the states being asked to shift to the Centre.<br />Modi has been keen to get experienced BJP chief ministers to handle portfolios at the centre but they have been reluctant to shift out of their states. <br /><br />The reshuffle is expected to take account the BJP's focus in the Assembly polls due in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, and Karnataka later this year and next. <br /><br />Elections are also due in Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Rajasthan in December 2018. <br />The last Cabinet reshuffle in July 2016 saw 19 new ministers being inducted into the government. <br /><br />Among the changes that the PM undertook, Prakash Javadekar became HRD minister, Smriti Irani was given textiles ministry and Sadananda Gowda move from the law ministry to the statistics ministry. Noted journalist M J Akbar became a minister of state for external affairs.<br />Currently, the Union Council of Ministers has 73 members, including the PM. <br /><br />Under Article 72 of the Constitution, the total number of ministers, including the PM, in the Union Council of Ministers shall not exceed 15 per cent of the number of members of the House of the People. Therefore, the maximum numbers of ministers that Modi can have in his government is 82. <br /><br /></div>
<div align="justify">A large reshuffle of the Union Cabinet is slated for the first week of September even as portfolios held by Venkaiah Naidu were reallocated following his resignation as Union minister on his nomination as NDA's vice-presidential candidate on Tuesday.<br /><br />Textile Minister Smriti Irani got the additional charge of information and broadcasting Ministry, which was held by Naidu.<br /><br />The other portfolio of urban development, which was with Naidu, was given to Narendra Singh Tomar, who has been handling rural Development and panchayati raj.<br /><br />Earlier, shortly before Naidu filed his nomination papers, President Pranab Mukherjee accepted his resignation with immediate effect, said a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique. <br /><br />The proposed reshuffle in the first week of September is expected to be a larger exercise as Prime Minister Narendra Modi intends to carry out a revamp, rewarding those ministers who have performed well and, perhaps, showing the door to others.<br /><br />Since he became PM, Modi has carried out only two Cabinet reshuffles and expansions — in November 2014 and July 2016. <br /><br />Modi will begin consultation with BJP chief Amit Shah and other party leaders after the current monsoon session of Parliament concludes on August 11.<br /><br />Top BJP officials confirmed that "performance criteria" would be the bench mark. <br /><br />Modi wishes to "re-energise" the Union Council of Ministers with a lot of younger faces and meet the development targets set before the Lok Sabha polls of 2019. <br /><br />A number of ministers of state who have handled important portfolios as an independent charge could be promoted to the Cabinet rank.<br /><br />Most importantly, the exercise should see appointment of a full-fledged Cabinet minister for defence. <br /><br />Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has held the additional charge of defence since Manohar Parrikar moved to Goa as chief minister. <br /><br />The government has come under flak from the opposition for the absence of full-fledged defence minister when India has been facing the military stand-off with China in Bhutan. <br /> <br />When Union minister Anil Madhav Dave passed away on May 18, the portfolio of environment, forests and climate change held by him was handed to science and technology minister Harsh Vardhan.<br /><br />With less than two years to go for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, a third expansion and reshuffle could also see senior BJP leaders who are in the states being asked to shift to the Centre.<br />Modi has been keen to get experienced BJP chief ministers to handle portfolios at the centre but they have been reluctant to shift out of their states. <br /><br />The reshuffle is expected to take account the BJP's focus in the Assembly polls due in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, and Karnataka later this year and next. <br /><br />Elections are also due in Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Rajasthan in December 2018. <br />The last Cabinet reshuffle in July 2016 saw 19 new ministers being inducted into the government. <br /><br />Among the changes that the PM undertook, Prakash Javadekar became HRD minister, Smriti Irani was given textiles ministry and Sadananda Gowda move from the law ministry to the statistics ministry. Noted journalist M J Akbar became a minister of state for external affairs.<br />Currently, the Union Council of Ministers has 73 members, including the PM. <br /><br />Under Article 72 of the Constitution, the total number of ministers, including the PM, in the Union Council of Ministers shall not exceed 15 per cent of the number of members of the House of the People. Therefore, the maximum numbers of ministers that Modi can have in his government is 82. <br /><br /></div>
