(Image source from: Modi Govt: New ministers and shuffling of charges after monsson})
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to expand his cabinet after the monsoon session of Parliament. The cabinet reshuffle will see the appointment of several ministers of state, with the aim of reducing the burden on Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley.
Modi's cabinet reshuffle is primarily aimed at strengthening the ministry of agriculture. However, the final decision will be taken only after August 14, according to reports in Hindustan Times.
The NDA government is expected to fill up vacancies in rural development and panchayati raj ministry following the demise of Gopinath Munde last month.
A senior minister said the cabinet reshuffle will take into account factors like state representation and the performances of incumbent ministers in the last two months. At present states like Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal have no representation in Modi's cabinet.
Discussions within the BJP suggest that Arun Jaitley cannot continue to manage so many ministries. Both the BJP and the government agree the Jaitley a competent minister of state for defence. Currently Jaitley is in charge of finance, defence, corporate affairs, oversight of economic ministries, besides functioning as Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha.
Home minister Rajnath Singh may be get another minister of state, according to reports. At present Rajnath has Kiren Rijiju as the minister of state for home to assist him. The additional minister may be placed in charge of Centre-State relations.
Government also has plans to place the agriculture ministry under a more experienced leader. Threats of a scanty monsoon has made the government look for a strong leader to deal with the drought-like situation hanging over the country.
As the NDA government is looking towards a cabinet reshuffle and expansion, it's expected that the PM may rope in the younger, former ministers who had served in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, but had been made to sit out left out when the first batch of ministers were sworn in on May 26.
(AW: Pratima Tigga)
