Possible New Ministers And How They Place In BJP's Election Strategy

Bhupendra Yadav, who is the party’s man in charge of Gujarat, and former Mumbai police chief Satyapal Singh are among those tipped to be new ministers in a massive reshuffle of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ministerial team, expected on Saturday evening.

Four union ministers resigned late on Thursday night seeming to set in motion the Cabinet revamp and, sources said, several more are likely to quit today to make way for new faces, including at least two from the BJP’s new partner, the Janata Dal United of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Janata Dal United leaders RCP Singh and Santosh Kushwaha are being discussed as likely new ministers.

The mega exercise is expected to fill key cabinet vacancies and also bring into the council of ministers leaders from states where elections will be held soon.

Bhupendra Yadav has the key charge of Gujarat, where BJP chief Amit Shah has set a target of winning 150 of the 182 seats in assembly elections due by the end of the year. An A-list central team led by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will lead election strategy in the state. Satpal Singh is a parliamentarian from Baghpat, where he defeated veteran politician Ajit Singh in 2014.

Suresh Angadi a BJP lawmaker from Karnataka and Satpal Singh Satti from Himachal Pradesh could be inducted as ministers. Elections will be held in Himachal Pradesh later this year and in Karnataka next year. From Karnataka, Prahlad Joshi could also make it to the new-look council of ministers.
 

Bhupendra Yadav is the party’s man in charge of Gujarat. (ANI)

Prahlad Singh Patel, who is from Madhya Pradesh, another state where elections will be held next year, could also be made a minister. Mr Patel has been a minister before in the government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The names of BJP Rajya Sabha member from Maharashtra, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, and Harish Dwivedi from UP are also doing the rounds as possible new ministers.

Senior Union ministers Uma Bharti, Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Radha Mohan Singh resigned late on Friday evening, as did junior minister for health Faggan Kulaste.

Another minister of state, Mahendra Pande, quit to become the BJP’s UP state chief.

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