Prime Minister Narendra Modi walks for a Cabinet meeting at Parliament Library in New Delhi on Wednesday. PTI Photo
Putting an end to days of speculation, officials Friday confirmed that the reshuffle of the Union Council of Ministers has been scheduled for Sunday morning. “A process has been set in motion for the swearing-in ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan around 10 am on Sunday,” an official said. The confirmation came a day after hectic deliberations within the BJP. Party president Amit Shah Thursday summoned Ministers Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Sanjiv Kumar Balyan and Faggan Singh Kulaste who were asked to put in their papers.
Mahendra Nath Pandey’s exit from the government was also cleared after Shah named him president of the party’s UP unit. Minister Kalraj Mishra, who has crossed the unwritten 75 years age limit to remain in the government, was also called by Shah. BJP sources said Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya too has been asked to put in his papers. This was confirmed by sources close to Dattatreya.
Rudy was quick to make his exit public by changing his profile introduction on his Twitter handle — from Minister to Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha. “It is a decision of the party and I am a soldier of the party. Whatever I am today is because of the party,” Rudy told The Indian Express Friday on his exit from the government. “I am ready for any assignment that the party assigns me,” he said.
Meanwhile, Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti brushed aside speculation on having made an offer to resign, saying queries related to the issue should be addressed to Amit Shah.
“The media sought my reaction on reports in circulation since yesterday. I have said that I have not heard the question, will not hear nor will I answer it,” Bharti tweeted,adding it was only for BJP president or persons authorised by him to speak on it. Currently, there are three key vacancies in the Union Council of Ministers following the exit of Manohar Parrikar and M Venkaiah Naidu from the government, and the death of Anil Madhav Dave.
Even Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had offered to exit the government but the Prime Minister was said to have asked him to wait. BJP sources suggested that fresh faces in the Union Council of Ministers were likely from poll-bound Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka along with some from Rajasthan and Maharashtra among others. While the JD(U), the new partner of NDA, is all set to join the government, the BJP’s hope to bring in AIADMK seems to have been stuck because of the internal wranglings within the party in Tamil Nadu.
