New Delhi: Amid growing buzz about the possible Cabinet reshuffle, former Congress heavyweight Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday headed to the national capital Delhi from Indore. Scindia, whose defection led to the collapse of the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh last year, is expected to be inducted into the Union Cabinet. Besides, former Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who made way for Himanta Biswa Sarma in the state and LJP leader Pashupati Paras are also expected to be accommodated in the Union Cabinet.
As per the reports of NDTV, Paras was spotted shopping for a kurta on Tuesday. On being asked he had received an invite from Delhi for the reshuffle, he said,”Raaz ko raaz rehne do (let secrets be).”
Allies of the saffron party like Apna Dal and JD(U) may also get berths. Some reports have claimed the swearing-in may happen as early as Wednesday. However, there was no official word on it.
Besides Shah and Nadda, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and other Union Ministers – Dharmendra Pradhan, Pralhad Joshi, Piyush Goyal, and Narendra Singh Tomar – were expected to attend the meeting.
The number of ministers in the Modi government can go up to 79 from 60 after the expansion, said reports. At present, there are 21 Cabinet ministers, 9 MoS (minister of state) with independent charge, and 29 ministers of state besides PM Modi.