The drubbing the BJP-led NDA alliance has received in the Bihar Assembly polls has revived speculation about a Cabinet reshuffle at the Centre.
However, if political observers are to be believed, none of the big-league Bihar-based ministers in the Prime Minister’s team are going to be touched considering the fact that since Narendra Modi himself was the chief poll campaigner, the ministers cannot be directly blamed for the party’s poor performance at the hustings.
In fact, they add that even if there was a possibility prior to the Bihar polls of any non-performing minister being removed or replaced with a fresh face, Mr Modi, having taken on the mantle of the party’s chief campaigner, may give such ministers a lifeline as the party leadership is not in a position to blame anybody directly.
There are three Cabinet-level ministers in the NDA government from Bihar — Radha Mohan Singh (agriculture), Ram Vilas Paswan (food and consumer affairs) and Ravi Shankar Prasad (communications and information technology). Rajiv Pratap Rudy is a minister of state with independent charge of skill development, while there are three MoS — Ram Kripal Yadav, Giriraj Singh and Upendra Kushwaha. There are a total of seven ministers from Bihar in PM’s team.
Political observers said Mr Giriraj Singh, MoS for micro, small and medium enterprises, who had caused a lot of controversy due to his comments on rape and alleged remarks on Congress president Sonia Gandhi and actor Shah Rukh Khan, may due to his utterings face the possibility of being replaced, but then he is only a junior minister in a low-profile ministry and his being removed may not count as a major change.
Sources aware of developments within the BJP claimed that prior to the Bihar polls there was talk that if the party got the desired numbers then the much-beleaguered Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan (facing heat in the Vyapam scam) could be brought to the Centre as agriculture minister as the name of the present incumbent in Krishi Bhavan, Radha Mohan Singh, was being circulated for CM post.
The basis on which Mr Chouhan’s name was being considered for the agriculture portfolio was the agricultural reforms he is said to have introduced in MP. The state has won the Central government’s Krishi Karman award three consecutive times since 2011. The award had been constituted by the Union agriculture ministry in 2010 to honour that state which helps raise the country’s food grain production. However, with the BJP having lost in Bihar, Mr Singh is likely to stay put in Krishi Bhavan for now.
The possibility of changing allies, like LJP (a key NDA partner) chief Ram Vilas Paswan and Upendra Kushwaha of the RLSP doesn’t arise at all, sources said.
