Manohar Parrikar is ‘ready,’ Shiv Sena gets a call: Reshuffle likely Sunday

While the BJP and Shiv Sena are yet to finalise an alliance in Maharashtra, Sena sources confirmed that the party has been asked to send two names for induction into the Union Cabinet. Shah is reported to have spoken to Sena president Uddhav Thackeray in this connection. Amid speculation that Sena leader Suresh Prabhu, who was the power minister in the previous NDA government, may be inducted, Thackeray’s close aide and Rajya Sabha MP Anil Desai, and Aurangabad MP Chandrakant Khaire are also reported to be frontrunners.

The BJP’s move is expected to set the ball rolling for the Shiv Sena’s support to the minority BJP government in Maharashtra, ahead of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s trust vote next week.

According to a PTI report from Panaji, Parrikar, who met Modi and Shah in the national capital on Wednesday, said,

“Party president Amit Shah spoke to me in the morning and asked me to accept any assignment that would be given by the Prime Minister… The party would not have asked me (to accept the offer) if they (top BJP leaders) had not interacted with the Prime Minister.”

Parrikar said while he did not feel comfortable about shifting to Delhi, he would take up the responsibility “if the nation requires” his services. “I want to give proper information as far as joining the Cabinet is concerned. It is the prerogative of the Prime Minister. However, I would like to inform that the party has indicated to me that if such assignment comes, you should accept it,” he said. He said if any offer had to come, it would have to be before November 9.

Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister’s visit to the Rashtrapati Bhawan, to attend a Gurbani recital to mark the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, also triggered speculation that it was in the context of a possible reshuffle of the Union Council of Ministers. Although the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) maintained that the visit was purely for the Gurbani programme, sources said the PM, President Pranab Mukherjee and Vice President Hamid Ansari had a “pull aside meeting”.

While BJP leaders did not officially comment on the possible Cabinet expansion, one leader said: “Home work over some changes in the government has been done in the last few days. There could be a Cabinet expansion soon and Sunday offers a window as the PM leaves for a three-nation tour on November 11.”

“You may find some faces from Rajasthan, Bihar and also from alliance partners, because BJP wants to do justice to all,” said a BJP leader.

The Cabinet expansion, according to sources, is intended to ease pressure on the ministers who have been handling more than one key portfolios. While Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also holds the Defence portfolio, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari was given additional charge of the Rural Development Ministry after the demise of Gopinath Munde.

While Parrikar is expected to get the Defence Ministry, Gadkari is likely to be relieved of the charge of Rural Development Ministry. Nirmala Sitharaman, who is currently the Minister of State (independent charge) of Commerce and Industry, may be promoted as Cabinet Minister. Sinha could be the Minister of State in the Finance Ministry.

Party sources said Sinha’s inclusion could be an attempt to placate his father Yashwant Sinha, who was keen to be the party’s chief ministerial candidate in poll-bound Jharkhand.

Incidentally, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, whose Telugu Desam Party is a BJP ally, also indicated that an expansion of the Cabinet is on the cards. “You will know details about the Cabinet expansion in two days,” said Naidu, who walked off the stage for a few minutes during an interview at the World Economic Forum’s India summit here to attend a phone call but refused to identify the caller.

Modi, who had declared minimum government and maximum governance as his mantra, has 22 Cabinet Ministers and the same number of Ministers of State, including 10 with independent charge.