PM Modi hosts tea party for probable ministers at 7 RCR residence

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted a tea party at his 7, Tacecourse Road official residence for all probable ministers who will be inducted in the Council of Ministers this afternoon.

Those who attended the breakfast party included former Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, BJP Vice President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, party General Secretaries J P Nadda and Rajiv Pratap Rudy, party leaders Choudhary Birender Singh, Jayant Sinha, Col. Sonaram Chaudhary, Hansraj Ahir, Ramkripal Yadav, Giriraj Singh, Babul Supriyo and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.

Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley and BJP President Amit Shah besides party leader Ram Lal were present on the occasion.

NDA ally TDP' s Y S Choudhary is also expected to find a place in the expanded cabinet. However, Shiv Sena's participation in today's Cabinet expansion looks uncertain, as the party has asked BJP to first resolve the issue of power sharing in Maharashtra. The new ministers will be sworn-in at a function at Rashtrapati Bhawan. It will be the first expansion of the Union council of Ministers, which has 45 members right now.

There is a possibility that some ministers with independent charge may be elevated to the cabinet rank. Ministers like Arun Jaitley, Nitin Gadkari, and Prakash Javadekar, who are holding additional portfolios, may be divested of some of the ministries.