Cabinet reshuffle: No berths for JD-U, Shiv Sena?

New Delhi: The crucial Cabinet reshuffle, to take place on Sunday morning, hit its first hurdle when the Janata Dal (United), which recently joined the NDA, indicated on Saturday that it is not likely to join the Modi Cabinet.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said in Patna on Saturday, “There was no talk of JD(U) joining the Union Cabinet. No talks were held on the issue (between the BJP and JD-U)”. Till Friday there were clear signals that two JD(U) MPs would be joining the Union Council of Ministers.

BJP chief Amit Shah met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday evening to finalise the reshuffle, and there were indications that besides the JD(U), Shiv Sena is also unlikely to join the government. Chances of the AIADMK, which recently merged its two factions, joining the Cabinet also appeared to be dim.

Mr Modi and Mr Shah have held a series of meetings before the reshuffle, which is expected to be the last and largest before the 2019 general elections. Sources said that more than half-a-dozen ministers are expected to go to make way for nine new faces in the reshuffle, while the portfolios of some minister may be changed.

In the lead up to the reshuffle, six ministers have resigned so far — Kalraj Mishra, Bandaru Dattatreya, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Sanjiv Kumar Balyan, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahindra Nath Pandey. The fate of water resources minister Uma Bharti hangs in the balance.

Read: Shiv Sena miffed as it waits for signal from Delhi

There has been talk in the saffron camp that one of the ministers was asked to go for his alleged links with an ongoing scam.

Before the six resignations, there were 72 ministers in Mr Modi’s Council of Ministers. Of these, 24 were Cabinet rank, 12 ministers of state (independent charge), and 36 ministers of state. The total strength of the Council of Ministers cannot exceed 81.

Like the Bihar chief minister, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray also said in Mumbai that he had received no information from the BJP.

In the case of the AIADMK, however, their internal squabbles are proving to be the stumbling block in its joining the government. AIADMK leader M. Thambidurai, who met Mr Shah on Friday, might be a likely representative from the party along with P. Venugopal and V. Maitreyan if the party decides to join the NDA. There has been no official statement from the party yet.

The BJP president on Friday attended a coordination meeting with various RSS outfits in Vrindavan, and he and Mr Modi were giving final touches to the changes on Friday.

More than half-a-dozen ministers are expected to make way for new faces in the reshuffle, while the portfolios of some minister may be changed.

Speculation was rife that highways and surface transport minister Nitin Gadkari could get the defence portfolio following Mr Gadkari’s visit to the Prime Minister’s Race Course residence late Saturday evening. The name of Vishakhapatnam MP Kambhampati Hari Babu is also doing the rounds for a ministerial berth.

The resignation of Manohar Parrikar and M. Venkaiah Naidu from the Union Cabinet and the demise of Anil Dave had created three vacancies in the Cabinet. Their portfolios were distributed among Arun Jaitley, Narendra Singh Tomar, Smriti Irani and Harsh Vardhan.

Other party leaders likely to get ministerial positions include Bhupender Yadav, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, Prahlad Patel, Suresh Angadi, Satyapal Singh (Baghpat, UP), Himanta Biswa Sarma, Anurag Thakur, Shobha Karandlaje, Maheish Girri and Prahlad Joshi. Mr Yadav and Mr Sahasrabuddhe are both key organisation leaders and Rajya Sabha members. Mr Joshi, Ms Karandlaje and Mr Angadi are Lok Sabha MPs from poll-bound Karnataka.

Ashwini Kumar Choubey, MP from Buxar, Bihar, and Pravesh Verma, late BJP leader Sahib Singh’s son, are also contenders. Mr Verma called on Mr Shah Saturday evening.

Another list of likely contenders doing the rounds on Saturday evening included Hardeep Singh Puri (former diplomat), Alphons Kannanthanam (former IAS officer), Shiv Pratap Shukla (Rajya Sabha MP from UP), Virendra Kumar (MP from Tikamgarh, Madhya Pradesh), Raj Kumar Singh (MP from Arrah, Bihar), Gajendra Singh Shekhawat (Jodhpur, Rajasthan) and Anant Kumar Hegde, an MP from Karnataka.

After assuming office in May 2014, Mr Modi has expanded his Council of Ministers twice, in November 2014 and July 2016.