The shape of the council of ministers of the next Narendra Modi government is likely to be different from the outgoing team with some of the old faces either retiring from politics due to health and other factors or being replaced by a younger lot.
Despite being a very key and important part of the Modi cabinet, finance minister Arun Jaitley may opt out as he is not in the best of health. If he hangs his boots, railways minister Piyush Goyal, who served as the interim finance minister when Jaitley was undergoing treatment, may step into his shoes. However, other names are also doing the rounds for this post.
It is not clear if external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj will want to continue in office as she too is not in the best of health. She will have to become a Rajya Sabha member to become a minister in the new government. BJP chief Amit Shah is likely to join the Modi cabinet in this term. He may become the home minister while Rajnath Singh may move to the defence ministry.
Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman would continue to be a key member of the Modi cabinet due to her work in the outgoing team. She may replace Swaraj. With Smriti Irani defeating Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, her promotion in the cabinet is almost a certainty. Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad may be moved to a more prominent ministry after his win in Patna Sahib. He was a minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and became a cabinet minister under Modi. Nitin Gadkari had a number of ministries under him and has the credit of most tangible work being done in those departments. He may continue with the work assigned to him.
Minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi may get a cabinet rank this time. He is the most prominent Muslim face in the Modi team. Dharmendra Pradhan, Prakash Javadekar and Jagat Prakash Nadda are also important leaders in the Modi cabinet and are likely to continue.
Berths for allies
JDU is reportedly keen on getting the railway ministry which Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had headed under Vajpayee. JDU is expecting three Cabinet posts. LJP is mum on whether Ram Vilas Paswan will become a cabinet minister again or leave berth for his son Chirag. Apna Dal leader Anupriya Patel will continue to be a minister.
Shiv Sena is hopeful of getting three Cabinet berths in the second term but may have to settle for two and one minister of state. The party is reportedly keen on giving up the heavy industries portfolio that it has been stuck with since the days of Atal Bihar Vajpayee government. Sena MP Anant Geete was the heavy industries minister in Modi’s first tenure. With assembly elections in Maharashtra due in a few months, BJP would be willing to accommodate Sena to quite an extent. The Sena may be expecting a ‘plum portfolio’ but its options are limited considering that BJP is in a much stronger position then what it was in 2014.
“We hope that BJP realises our value and the fact that we have been its longest ally. Also that we are the second largest party in the NDA,” said a Sena leader. Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray will be in Delhi on Saturday to attend the NDA leaders’ meeting.
NDPP, the BJP’s partner in Nagaland has won 1 seat in the Lok Sabha elections. It is unlikely that the lone MP will be accommodated in Modi’s council of ministers. / AGENCIES