Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PTI File Photo
A reshuffle of the Union Cabinet said to be a major revamp exercise for refurbishing Modi government, has been scheduled for Sunday morning before PM Narendra Modi flys out to Beijing for BRICS summit.
Government sources stated that swearing-in ceremony is expected to take place in Rashtrapati Bhavan at around 10 am on Sunday.
Besides a new defence minister, the changes could see many portfolios change hands and induction of new faces from within the party and NDA allies in the central government. So far, seven ministers have handed over their resignations to BJP chief Amit Shah on Friday afternoon to pave the way for the swearing-in of their replacements.
Ministers who have put in their papers are Uma Bharti, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Kalraj Mishra, Mahendra Pandey, Sanjiv Kumar Baliyan, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Bandaru Dattatreya.
All of these ministers were called individually by BJP president Amit Shah on Thursday and asked to put in their papers. BJP sources said Rudy got a call from Shah's office immediately after he landed at Patna airport on Thursday and he was told to take the first return flight to the national capital and meet the BJP president. The skill development minister was advised to resign which he did in the presence of Shah, said a BJP leader.
A day later, the BJP MP from Saran in Bihar confirmed that he has quit from the government and said it "it was centre's decision and prerogative". Similarly, saffron clad minister Bharti also did not deny that she has not resigned.
"The media sought my reaction to reports in circulation since yesterday. I have said that I have not heard the question, will not hear nor will I answer it," the water resources minister tweeted.
Similarly, Balyan, Pandey and Kulaste too acknowledged before media that they were asked to go.
Shah, who went to Mathura in the morning to attend an RSS meet, is expected to interact with Modi late in the evening or on Saturday to finalise the list of rejigged council of ministers.
The shake up is likely to see either elevation or additional charges for some ministers such as Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Prakash Javadekar and Nirmala Sitharaman, said sources. The party is believed to be contemplating of bringing leaders from poll bound states -- including Karnataka and Gujarat -- into the government. Besides, Modi is likely to accommodate in his team representatives of NDA allies, especially the JD(U) and the Shiv Sena. Anandrao Adsul of Sena is said to have been sounded off about getting a berth at the centre, which if happens would take the strength of BJP's Maharashtra coalition partner to two since Anant Geete is already heavy industries minister. While JDU, the party's ruling ally in Bihar, may get two slots in the central government.
Some of the ministers will have to off load extra burden they have been sharing to fill up existing vacancies that arose after Manohar Parrikar shifted to Goa, the death of Anil Madhav Dave and M Venkaiah Naidu becoming Vice President of India.