EXPANSION IN MODI CABINET
Agency
NEW DELHI: As many as 20 new faces are expected to be inducted into the Union Council of Ministers tomorrow in the first revamp exercise which is likely to bring in BJP leaders Manohar Parrikar, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Bandaru Datttatreya while elevating a few.
While a TDP representative is sure to be inducted, last-minute problems appeared to have cropped up over a Shiv Sena member joining the ministry in view of unresolved issues in Maharashtra.
Five months after taking over, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is undertaking an expansion and reshuffle of his Cabinet in which Parrikar appears all set to get Defence portfolio which is now held as an additional charge by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
The swearing-in of the new ministers will take place at 1.30 PM tomorrow at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Before the swearing-in ceremony, Modi is hosting a breakfast for the newcomers.
The current strength of the Council of Ministers is 45 — 23 of Cabinet rank, including the Prime Minister, and 22 Ministers of State. Of the 22 MoS, 10 hold Independent Charge.
Among the new inductions are Babul Supriyo, BJP MP from West Bengal, Vijay Sampla, a dalit and a first time Lok Sabha member of the party from Hoshiarpur in Punjab and possibly former RJD leader Ram Kripal Yadav, elected on BJP ticket from Patna.
An IIT-M alumnus, Parrikar will be the first Cabinet Minister from Goa and shares a good rapport with the Prime Minister.
Naqvi (57), a prominent Muslim face of the BJP, returns to the Union Council of Ministers 15 years after his stint as MoS Information and Broadcasting in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. A member of Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh, he is currently the Vice President of BJP.
Meanwhile, Laxmikant Parsekar, an old RSS hand who helped build BJP in Goa, was on Saturday sworn-in as Chief Minister of the coastal state after he snuffed out competition from his senior and Deputy CM Francis D’Souza to succeed Manohar Parrikar who was plucked for a Union Cabinet berth. 58-year-old Parsekar, an MLA from Mandrem, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Mridula Sinha at a ceremony at Raj Bhavan, along with nine other ministers– seven from BJP and two from its alliance partner Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP).
Francis D’Souza, Dayanand Mandrekar, Ramesh Tawadkar, Mahadev Naik, Dilip Parulekar, Milind Naik, Alina Saldanha (all from BJP) and Ramakrishna alias Sudin Dhavalikar and Dipak Dhavalikar (both from MGP), all of whom were ministers in the previous Manohar Parrikar government, have been retained in the Parsekar ministry.
“I am very happy to have been unanimously elected,” Parsekar said on being elected the leader at a meeting of the BJP Legislature Party soon after Parrikar resigned earlier today.
With strong backing from RSS and BJP, he quelled the challenge thrown by D’Souza, the senior-most minister in the Parrikar government and the catholic face of BJP who had yesterday staked claim to the post, citing his seniority.
His name was proposed by Parrikar and seconded by the D’Souza, who was mollified by the party leadership.
“Yesterday, the chief minister was being nominated. Today he has been elected by the 21 MLAs…. I cannot be upset with an election process. When there is an election and majority of MLAs vote for him, how can I be upset,” D’Souza said.
D’Souza had said he will not join the new government if he was not made the Chief Minister. However, he was among those who were sworn-in this evening.
“I don’t have the numbers with me,” he said on queries about his claim to the post.
Parsekar is the third BJP leader with strong RSS links to be appointed as Chief Minister in less than two months after Manohar Lal Khattar in Haryana and Devendra Fadnavis in Maharashtra.
D’Souza told journalists after the swearing-in ceremony that he will continue to occupy Deputy CM’s post.
“I will continue as Deputy CM. It was the decision of the party and I have to abide by it,” he said.
Parsekar’s elevation as Chief Minister capped swift political developments that began with Parrikar’s visit to Delhi on Wednesday where his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah set off speculation about his impending shift to the Centre. PTI
