Modi reviews ministries before possible cabinet shuffle

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is personally reviewing all the ministries along with Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President JP Nadda. There is speculation about expansion or changes in the current cabinet, because of the upcoming assembly elections in several states including Uttar Pradesh, writes Senior Correspondent Anamika Ratna.

New Delhi: The Prime Minister's Office prepares the report card of all ministries each year. Based on these reports, internal rankings and assessments of these ministries are prepared. However, as per the sources, this time Prime Minister Narendra Modi is personally reviewing all the ministries. Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President JP Nadda are supporting the Prime Minister in this task. It is speculated that there will be expansion or changes in the current cabinet, because of the upcoming assembly elections in several states including Uttar Pradesh.

As per sources, all ministries of the Modi government 2.0 are being reviewed and the cabinet will be expanded and altered accordingly. So far, the following ministries have been reviewed - Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare, Rural Development, Coal and Mining, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Housing and Urban Affairs, Civil Aviation, Railways, Tourism and Culture, Tribal Affairs, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Road Transport and Highways, Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Development of North Eastern Region.

Since 2019, there has been no expansion carried out in the Union Cabinet. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath along with several key leaders have met the Prime Minister recently. As per reports, Apna Dal leader from Uttar Pradesh, Anupriya Patel, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Bengal BJP leader Shubhendu Adhikari, former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, former Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal, Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Modi, LJP's Chirag Paswan and JDU leaders - Rajiv Ranjan Singh and Ramchandra Prasad Singh are in contention for cabinet ministries.

However, the important ministries of Home, Defence, Finance, External Affairs and Trade and Commerce, that come under the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), will have no changes. The upcoming Legislative Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa will be taken into account during the cabinet expansion. This important cabinet expansion exercise will be implemented before or during the upcoming Monsoon session of the parliament.