Close X
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
ADVT 
India

It's official: Modi to merge ministries, Small, compact Cabinet shaping up

Darpan News Desk Darpan, 25 May, 2014 07:10 PM
    A small and compact cabinet under Narendra Modi appeared to be taking final shape Sunday, with BJP leaders Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, and Sushma Swaraj likely to get the top posts, according to party sources.
     
    The cabinet is expected to be compact, said party sources. Restructuring is expected in the government and some ministries are likely to be merged.
     
    BJP president Rajnath Singh appears set to be the next home minister, but internal security may be taken away from the home ministry and kept with the prime minister's office.
     
    Talks are on over Rajnath Singh's replacement in the party, with general secretary and former Himachal Pradesh minister J.P. Nadda among the contenders for the post.
     
    While Arun Jaitley is likely to get finance ministry, Sushma Swaraj may get external affairs or defence ministry.
     
    Ravi Shankar Prasad, Najma Heptulla, Sumitra Mahajan and Ananth Kumar are also likely to find place in the cabinet, as are representatives from allies Shiv Sena, and Telugu Desam Party, whose chief N. Chandrababu Naidu also met Modi Sunday.
     
     
    However, coming out of the meeting, Naidu said that a ministerial post is not important.
     
    "I did not ask for any representation," he said.
     
    "We are an ally of the NDA, power is not important, national development is important. Both in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana there are problems. Under his (Modi's) leadership, we want a solution to these problems," Naidu told TV news channel CNN IBN.
     
    However, TDP sources in Hyderabad said Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju is likely to be the lone face from the TDP to be inducted into the union cabinet Monday.
     
    This was believed to have been decided at the meeting Naidu had with Modi.
     
    Ally Shiv Sena, however, said it expected "proper" representation in the cabinet. 
     
     
    "Shiv Sena is expecting good positions in the central government. The BJP has assured us that would happen," said senior Sena leader Subhash Desai.
     
    "We are confident. We are not at all bothered or worried about Shiv Sena not getting a proper share," Desai told TV news channel NDTV.
     
    Sources said the Apna Dal, which won two seats in Uttar Pradesh, is also trying to find a place in the new cabinet.
     
    Rajnath Singh, meanwhile, met several party leaders, including Maneka Gandhi, Udit Raj, and Vijay Goel as well as Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh leader Suresh Soni during the day.

    MORE India ARTICLES

    AAP to think small again: Focus on Delhi, may not contest Haryana

    AAP to think small again: Focus on Delhi, may not contest Haryana
    Stung by its rout in the general election, where it won only four out of 440 Lok Sabha seats it contested, all of them from Punjab, the AAP is now back to thinking small and may not contest assembly elections in Haryana scheduled for this October.

    AAP to think small again: Focus on Delhi, may not contest Haryana

    History will be made Monday as Narendrabhai Damodardas Modi takes oath

    History will be made Monday as Narendrabhai Damodardas Modi takes oath
    It would be history in the making, in more senses than one. A man who once helped his family make ends meet by vending tea at a railway station in between his classes, and who once wandered around the country to find his spiritual moorings, will take his oath as India's 14th prime minister

    History will be made Monday as Narendrabhai Damodardas Modi takes oath

    Shazia Ilmi, Capt.Gopinath quit AAP, hit out at Arvind Kejriwal

    Shazia Ilmi, Capt.Gopinath quit AAP, hit out at Arvind Kejriwal
     In a double whammy for the Aam Aadmi Party, two of its key leaders - Shazia Ilmi and G.R. Gopinath - Saturday quit the party and lashed out at its chief Arvind Kejriwal's policies and attitude.

    Shazia Ilmi, Capt.Gopinath quit AAP, hit out at Arvind Kejriwal

    Sonia asks partymen not to bicker in public, learn lessons from rout

    Sonia asks partymen not to bicker in public, learn lessons from rout
    Congress president Sonia Gandhi, re-elected chairperson of Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP)Saturday, asked party leaders not to indulge in "public acrimony" over the party's worst Lok Sabha results for which appropriate lessons need to be learnt.

    Sonia asks partymen not to bicker in public, learn lessons from rout

    India's Muslims welcome Modi's gesture to Pakistan

    India's Muslims welcome Modi's gesture to Pakistan
    India’s Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi’s gesture of inviting Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to his swearing-in ceremony has raised hopes of a long-lasting peace between the arch rivals among Muslims of this country.

    India's Muslims welcome Modi's gesture to Pakistan

    Modi's gestures: Willingness to make a new beginnin

    Modi's gestures: Willingness to make a new beginnin
    There are indications that Modi may move rapidly in the matter of concluding a treaty on the Teesta river waters with Bangladesh which was blocked by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during the Manmohan Singh government's tenure.

    Modi's gestures: Willingness to make a new beginnin

    PrevNext