Mega Expansion of Modi Cabinet: The Union Cabinet may expand in the next 2-3 days; There are 53 ministers now, 28 more are expected to increase

The expansion in the Union Cabinet can be done in the next day or two. This reshuffle will be done keeping in mind the Lok Sabha elections to be held in 2024 and the assembly elections in some states in the next five years. This will be the first extension of Narendra Modi’s second term as Prime Minister.

NDTV has given this information quoting sources. Jyotiraditya Scindia can be included in this expansion. His differences with the Congress helped the BJP return to power in Madhya Pradesh last year. Apart from these, Sarbananda Sonowal can also get a chance. He had made way for the BJP to win in Assam and make Himanta Biswa Sarma the chief minister of the state.

Sources also say that many existing ministers may be removed in this expansion. At present, 9 ministers have more than one portfolio. These include Prakash Javadekar, Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Nitin Gadkari, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Narendra Singh Tomar, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Smriti Irani and Hardeep Singh Puri.

They can also get a place in the cabinet
Among the BJP leaders who can be made ministers in the Modi government are Ajay Bhatt or Anil Baluni from Uttarakhand. Pratap Sinha from Karnataka, Jagannath Sarkar from West Bengal, Shantanu Thakur or Nisith Pramanik. Brijendra Singh from Haryana, Rahul Kaswan from Rajasthan, Ashwini Vaishnav from Odisha, Poonam Mahajan or Pritam Munde or Hina Gavit from Maharashtra. Parvesh Verma or Meenakshi Lekhi from Delhi can also be named in this list.

Their names are also discussed
It is being told that former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Sushil Kumar Modi, Maharashtra leaders Narayan Rane, Bhupendra Yadav and a senior leader who has the charge of Gujarat along with Bihar can also get a place in the Modi cabinet. Apart from these, Varun Gandhi, Ramshankar Katheria, Anil Jain, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Zafar Islam and Apna Dal’s Anupriya Patel are also in the queue in view of the assembly elections to be held in Uttar Pradesh.

Confusion still in the name of Chirag Paswan
If Chirag Paswan is included in this expansion, his uncle Pashupati Paras could become the snag. There is a conflict going on between the two. Because of this, the Lok Janshakti Party has been torn apart. Recently, Pashupati has parted ways with five party MPs. After the death of Chirag’s father Ram Vilas Paswan last year, this split has now come to the fore.

It is not clear how many ministers Nitish will have
Amidst speculation, it is not yet clear whether Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JDU will get any place in the Union Cabinet. In 2019, Nitish had turned down the offer to become a minister at the Centre. Sources say Nitish is expecting at least two ministries. It is being said that Lallan Singh, Ramnath Thakur and Santosh Kushwaha are involved in this race from his party.