New Delhi: Nine new faces will join the Union Council of Ministers on Sunday, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi goes for a massive overhaul of his Cabinet to weed out the non-performers.
The reshuffle, which will also see a rejig of key portfolios including those of a few cabinet ministers, could be the last major revamp of Modi government ahead of the crucial 2019 general elections.
The ministers to take oath are Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Shiv Paratap Shukla, Virendra Kumar, Anantkumar Hegde, Raj Kumar Singh, Hardeep Singh Puri, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Satya Pal Singh and Alphons Kannanthanam.
Puri is a decorated former IFS officer of the 1974 batch, known for his experience and expertise in foreign policy and national security, while Satya Pal Singh is the former Police Commissioner of Mumbai and Member of Parliament of the BJP from Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh.
RK Singh is a former IAS officer and served as a home secretary. He is an MP since May 2014.
"The new ministers are going to be strategically placed in key ministries, especially focusing on last mile delivery directly to the people," PTI quoted a source as saying. "Six incumbent ministers have already resigned," he added.
Some of the non-performers are likely to be edged out in line with Modi's vision of “minimum government and maximum governance”.
Union ministers, including Bandaru Dattatreya, Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Kalraj Mishra have already put in their papers over the last two days.
Currently, there are 73 ministers in the Union council but the prime minister has the option to expand it to a maximum of 81 members.
The new ministers will be sworn in by President Ram Nath Kovind in a ceremony at 10 am in the Rashtrapati Bhawan, just before the prime minister leaves for the BRICS summit in China.
But there is still some suspense over new allies like the AIADMK and the JD(U) joining the government.
There has been speculation that the reshuffle could see the entry of JD-U nominees into the Union Council of Ministers.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Saturday that there has been no proposal as yet for his party to join the government at the Centre. Kumar said that if his party gets any such proposal he will take a call.
From the JD-U quota, Rajya Sabha MP R.C.P. Singh and Santosh Kumar are strong contenders.
Also, AIADMK's entry into the union government remained uncertain. Party leaders Thambidurai, P Venugopal and V Maitreyan may be the likely representatives if it decides to join the government.
AIADMK leader Thambidurai has reportedly met Amit Shah on Friday but the details of their meeting have not been divulged.
NDA partner Shiv Sena has also not received any communication from the BJP over the inclusion of its members in the Union cabinet.
PM Modi and BJP president Amit Shah reportedly held discussions on Thursday to select the candidates who could be considered for induction.
Shah had also briefed the top RSS leadership on Friday about PM Modi's Cabinet reshuffle.
