Union cabinet expansion on cards; new faces likely to be inducted

The speculations are rife for the possible Union cabinet expansion or reshuffle as its need arose with the demise of Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan and Karnataka BJP leader Suresh Angadi. ETV Bharat has accessed a list of 26 names that are likely to be added to the list of ministers.

New Delhi:Speculations of a possible expansion of the Union cabinet gained momentum after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held two meetings with the BJP's top brass and ministers in the last few days. The need for a cabinet expansion arose with the demise of Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan and Karnataka BJP leader Suresh Angadi. Two ministerial posts vacated by representatives of Shiromani Akali Dal and Shiv Sena after they exited the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) also need to be filled.

Many of the existing ministers have multiple portfolios, some of which may be shed in favour of the new inductees. The portfolios which could see changes include Industry and commerce, Law, Agriculture, HRD, Civil Aviation, Steel and Food Processing. As per media reports, underperforming ministers might be dropped from the cabinet and a few new faces are likely to be inducted.

ETV Bharat has accessed a list of 26 names that are likely to be added to the list of ministers. Among them, some prominent names are doing the rounds that include, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Varun Gandhi, Kailash Vijayvargiya, Dinesh Trivedi, Sarbananda Sonowal and Pashupati Paras.

Names of leaders who are likely to be inducted into the cabinet

Jyotiraditya Scindia:Former Union Minister Scindia severed all ties with the Congress to join the BJP in March 2020. His defection had also led to the fall of the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh.

Names of leaders who are likely to be inducted into the cabinet

Varun Gandhi: The son of Maneka Gandhi and late Sanjay Gandhi is a three-time Lok Sabha MP from Pilibhit constituency. He hails from the Nehru-Gandhi family and formally joined the BJP in 2004.

Kailash Vijayvargiya: A six-time legislator who has never lost an assembly election, and a state government cabinet minister for over 12 years before being elevated to the party's central leadership. He is presently serving as the BJP secretary of West Bengal.

Dinesh Trivedi:Former Trinamool Congress leader and Union minister Dinesh Trivedi joined the BJP in March. He was the recipient of the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award for the 2016-2017 period and was felicitated at an event at the central hall of Parliament.

Sarbananda Sonowal:He served as a Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs from 2014 to 2016 during the first term of the Narendra Modi government before taking over as the Chief Minister of Assam in 2016. He was replaced by Himanta Biswa Sarma as Assam CM following the party's victory in the recently concluded state assembly elections.

Pashupati Paras:The LJP leader is a member of the Lok Sabha from Hajipur. He is the younger brother of late Ram Vilas Paswan. He was recently elected as the National President of Lok Janshakti Party replacing Chirag Paswan.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Modi government took an oath for the second term in May 2019 with 57 ministers, 12 more than the first term.