Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducted a meeting with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Tuesday (May 28) to finalise the names for the new cabinet as Modi takes the second term in office on Thursday, May 30.
Many of the ministers from the previous cabinet are on the question as some of them are ailing from health conditions and some would be replaced by the young blood. Speculations are rife that some minor reshuffles can be predicted for the new union cabinet with changes in some high profile portfolios.
The minor changes in the key ministries including home, external affairs, defence and finance portfolios. The major question rests on the finance ministry after several reports claiming finance minister Arun Jaitley's deteriorating health surfaced. Jaitley had conducted a meeting with his officials a few days ago.
Speculations are that Amit Shah is most likely to hold a cabinet rank this term, most probably as the Home Minister. If Amit Shah joins the government, the title of BJP president could be handed over to the party bigwigs like JP Nadda, Nitin Gadkari and Rajnath Singh. But some of the party sections want him to remain as the party head due to the upcoming assembly elections in the key states of Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Haryana.
A victory in these states will take the BJP past the halfway mark by 2020. With assembly polls in a string of states - elections in Delhi and Bihar will be held next year - the party needs full attention now, sources indicated, reports NDTV.
According to the reports, PM Modi and Amit Shah's meeting has concluded on some names that will retain for the new term and will also have some new calls on the final names. Several former ministers are expected to retain berths as they have been asked to prepare a 100-day action plan for their respective ministries, adds the report.
The sources said that no major changes will be made in the ministry but a few slight arrangements will be given for the states which have newly welcomed the BJP, including the states of Odisha, Bengal and the northeast zone.
