Cabinet reshuffle on Sunday, swearing-in of new ministers at 10 am

According to The Indian Express, the swearing-in ceremony will take place at around 10 am, at Rashtrapati Bhawan, a first under newly-elected President Ram Nath Kovind.

This will be Prime Minister Modi’s third — and perhaps final — reshuffle before the 2019 Parliamentary elections when he goes to the people seeking mandate for the second term.

In a broad indication of the reshuffle, fourr ministers, including Uma Bharti and Rajiv Pratap Rudy, have resigned since late Thursday night and several more may step down.

Their exit is likely to make way for induction of new faces in the cabinet.

Apart from Rudy, the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Uma Bharti, Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation minister, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh and minister of state Sanjeev Balyan have stepped down.

The expected rejig is likely to give the cabinet a new look with the induction of representatives from newer allies like the Janata Dal (U), among others, before a series of state elections and the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Sanjeev Balyan both said they were told to resign by the party and they unquestioningly did so.

"It's not my decision, it's the decision of the party, and I will follow (it),"  Rudy told NDTV.

According to media reports,  Rudy and  Balyan are expected to be given key organisational roles in the BJP in preparation for the 2019 elections.

NDTV said the  new-look council of ministers will include BJP leaders from states where elections will be held in the next few months, like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.