Ministers step down ahead of Cabinet reshuffle, 43 likely to swear in today

NEW DELHI: In what can be called the first major cabinet reshuffle since Prime Minister Narendra Modi started his second tenure in May 2019, as many as 21 new faces are expected to make their way into the PM's Council of Ministers.
The list that has come to the fore seems to have been chalked out keeping in mind the 2022 election scenario in five states, including Uttar Pradesh.
The new government will reportedly have a higher share of OBC representations, younger leaders and women ministers.
Why this reshuffle?
The reshuffle comes after vacancies were created following Ram Vilas Paswan's death and the exits of Akali Dal and Shiv Sena. Upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh is also said to be a factor.
Resignations before revamp
Health minister Harsh Vardhan, 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 have resigned from the Union Cabinet hours before the scheduled reshuffle later on Wednesday.
Leaders who have arrived at PM's residence
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, R.C.P. Singh, G.Krishan Reddy, Purshottam Rupala arrived at PM Modi's residence at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, Delhi on Wednesday.
Sushil Modi and West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh will also be part of the said reshuffle.
Anurag Thakur, Purshottam Rupala and GK Reddy are among the ones said to be up for elevation.
Meeting held
Ahead of the cabinet expansion at 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.
43 likely to swear in
As many as 43 pople are expected to be sworn-in as ministers on Wednesday. The list has names like former Congress leader from Madhya Pradesh, Jyotiraditya Scindia, who is now in the BJP and former Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Modi.
Probables
Apna Dal's Anupriya Patel from Uttar Pradesh, Ladakh MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, former Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari are among the probables. Besides Bengal MP, Locket Chatterjee and Shantanu Thakur are part of the contingent. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, MP from Manipur; former Union minister from Karnataka, Ramesh Jigajinagi, are among in the list of probables.