PM Modi expands cabinet, Parrikar joins centre, Sena snubbed

 

The 21 new ministers join the 45 other ministers in the ministry to take the strength of Modi government to 66. 

Among the four cabinet rank ministers, while Jagat Prakash Nadda is a Rajya Sabha Member from Himachal Pradesh who worked with Modi for the Himalayan state, Birendra Singh is a Jat leader from Haryana. Suresh Prabhu is from Shiv Sena but according to reports he was not the choice of Sena which reportedly boycotted the swearning-in ceremony.

Reports said  Sena's Anil Desai too was asked to return from the Delhi airport by the party because he was not given a cabinet rank. Induction of Prabhu is seen as a snub to Sena by BJP.

 

With induction of Prabhu, the Sena and BJP seemed to be heading for a collision path. 

The three Ministers of State with Independent Charge are Bandaru Dattatreya, Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Mahesh Sharma.

The 14 ministers of state are Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Ram Kripal Yadav (who recently joined the BJP from Lalu Prasad's RJD), H P Chaudhary, Sanwar Lal Jat, Mohan Kundariya, Giriraj Singh, Hansraj Ahir, Ram Shankar Katheria, YS Chowdhary (Telugu Desam Party), Jayant Sinha, Rajavardhan Rathore, Babul Supriyo (singer turned MP from West Bengal), Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti and Vijay Sampla.

This is the first expansion since Modi took oath as the PM on May 16.

 

While the portfolios will be known shortly, reports said Manohar Parrikar is likely to be inducted as the Defence Minister  relieving Arun Jaitley, who was holding charges of two crucial portfolios - Finance and Defence.

According to reports, DV Sadananda Gowda could be shifted from Railways.