PM Modi's Cabinet revamp: Several ministers step down

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set for a mega expansion and reshuffle of his Cabinet, the first in his second term that started in May 2019. Several new ministers are likely to be included in the PM's council of ministers.
Ahead of the reshuffle, several ministers, including Union health minister Harsh Vardhan and education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal, resigned from the Cabinet.
On Tuesday, social justice and empowerment minister Thaawarchand Gehlot had also vacated his ministry as he was appointed as the governor of Karnataka.
The new list that has come to the fore seems to have been guided by several factors, including the upcoming assembly elections in five states in 2022.
PM Modi had conducted an extensive review of the performance of several ministers in the run up to this exercise. So, while some ministers have been dropped, some others may be promoted.
Also, reports suggest that Modi's new Cabinet will have a higher share of OBC representations, younger leaders and women ministers.
Why this reshuffle?
The reshuffle was due for quite some time. Vacancies were created in the Union Cabinet after the death of Ram Vilas Paswan, the exits of BJP's two allies the Akali Dal and the Shiv Sena. Also, possibly there was an urgent need to set right the balance of representation from different castes, regions and states ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in some key states.
Resignations before revamp
Hours before the scheduled expansion of the Union Cabinet, several ministers have resigned. The most significant among them is Harsh Vardhan who has quit as Union health minister. The horror of the second Covid wave that took the government and the authorities by surprise could be one of the factors that may have led to this change. His second-in-command, minister of state for health has also resigned. This means that the Union health ministry will have a complete new look as the government tries to undo the political damage caused by the Covid pandemic.
Other prominent ministers to quit include Ravi Shankar Prasad, environment minister Prakash Javadekar, education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank, labour minister Santosh Gangwar, minister of state for education Sanjay Dhotre, Union chemicals and fertilizers minister DV Sadananda Gowda, woman and child development minister Debasree Chaudhuri and minister of state for environment, forest and climate change Babul Supriyo.
Other ministers who have tendered their resignation include DV Sadananda Gowda, Thaawarchand Gehlot, Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Babul Supriyo, Dhotre Sanjay Shamrao, Rattan Lal Kataria, Pratap Chandra Sarangi, and Debasree Chaudhuri.
Leaders who met PM Modi at his residence ahead of the Cabinet rejig
The first hints of who all may have made it to Modi's new Cabinet came in the morning when several leaders whose names were doing the rounds were invited to Prime Minister's residence for a meeting.
Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sarbananda Sonowal, Bhupender Yadav, Anurag Thakur, Meenakshi Lekhi, Anupriya Patel, Ajay Bhatt, Shobha Karandjale, Sunita Duggal, Pritam Munde, Santanu Thakur, Narayan Rane, Kapil Patil, Pashupati Nath Paras, RCP Singh, G Krishan Reddy, Purshottam Rupala arrived at PM Modi's residence at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, Delhi on Wednesday.
According to reports, Sushil Modi and West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh may also be part of the mega reshuffle.
Anurag Thakur, Purshottam Rupala and GK Reddy are among the ones who would likely be promoted.
Meeting at PM's residence
Ahead of the Cabinet expansion that is scheduled for 6 pm, a high-level meeting was held at PM Modi's official residence.
Most senior National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders and Union Cabinet ministers were present in the meeting. These leaders included Union home minister Amit Shah, BJP president JP Nadda, BJP leaders Meenakshi Lekhi, Sarbananda Sonowal, Parshottam Rupala, Nisith Pramanik, Janata Dal (United) leader RCP Singh, and Lok Janshakti Party leader Pashupati Paras.
Watch Union Cabinet reshuffle: Health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan resigns