As PM Modi’s Weekend Swearing-In Nears, Buzz Grows Over Cabinet Berths In NDA – News18

As the oath-taking ceremony for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s historic third term approaches this weekend, speculation is rising over which important Cabinet berths will be allocated to BJP allies as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition government takes shape.

Both BJP partners — Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Janata Dal (United) — are said to be eyeing 3 to 4 Cabinet births. But the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to keep key ministries like Railways, Law, Information Technology, and Education.  The BJP, being the majority party in the alliance, is willing to accommodate one cabinet post and two Minister of State positions, each for the TDP and JD(U.

BJP-led NDA

This comes as newly elected MPs of the BJP-led NDA will meet on Friday to elect Narendra Modi as their leader, paving the way for him to take oath as prime minister for a third term. The swearing-in is likely to be held on Sunday.

After Modi is elected the leader of NDA MPs, senior members of the alliance like TDP’s N Chandrababu Naidu, JD(U)’s Nitish Kumar and Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde will join the prime minister for a meeting with President Droupadi Murmu to present her the list of parliamentarians supporting him.

He may be sworn in over the weekend, likely Sunday, they added. The NDA has 293 MPs, comfortably above the majority mark of 272 in the 543-member Lok Sabha. Senior BJP leaders, including Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and J P Nadda, have also been holding deliberations with allies to work out an amicable formula for their share of representation in the new government.

TDP

News18 has learned that the TDP wishes for at least 3-4 berths in the Union Cabinet. They had one minister and one MoS in the earlier term with the NDA, with the same number of 16 seats as now. The Minister of Civil Aviation and Minister of State IT were earlier from the TDP until the party pulled out of the NDA government in 2018.

MoS Finance is expected to be a key post for the TDP, plus two-three other full ministries, which would help in Andhra’s development. Another key issue is the demand for ‘special status’ for Andhra Pradesh, but the nomenclature no longer exists. Instead, Andhra Pradesh may be promised an adequate infusion of funds for the state as desired by Chandrababu Naidu.

JD(U)

Amid intense speculation about the government formation for the third term of Modi, JD(U) has said it is seeking a review of the Agnipath scheme, launched by the BJP government in 2022. JD(U) Spokesperson K C Tyagi told CNN-News18 that the party wants a detailed discussion on the scheme, under which defence personnel are employed for four years.

“Our party wants a detailed discussion on the issue of Agnipath because people have formed their views on this. JD(U) stands with the sentiments expressed by the public. We want a review of this scheme because the public and former defence personnel have expressed concern regarding this scheme,” Tyagi told CNN-News18 in roughly translated Hindi.

JDU MP Elect from Gopalganj, Dr. Alok said that a common minimum program would be made after discussing all these issues and coming to an agreement about the governance priorities of NDA. On one nation, one poll, the JDU leaders said they have no objection. Both UCC and ONOP are part of BJP’s manifesto.

Shiv Sena

With everyone speculating on the possible demands of BJP’s NDA partners ahead of the formation of the government, sources close to Shiv Sena informed CNN-News18 that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s son, Shrikant Shinde, won’t be considered for a Cabinet berth.

It has been learnt that the party is considering the names of some senior and experienced party MPs for the big post. According to sources, Sena is likely to propose the name of Pratap Rao Jadhav for the post of central minister.