Ministers still on tenterhooks

A top leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party held an informal chat with journalists

Members of the Union Council of Ministers have spent the last couple of days in New Delhi. Those who were planning to go out of the city also changed their plans after they were conveyed the message that it would be better that they stay in Delhi. The ministers have taken it to mean that the Cabinet expansion and reshuffle can take place on any day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves for China to attend the BRICS Summit on September 3. Ministers have also been keen to find out from journalists whether the Ashoka Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, where ministers are sworn in, has been booked and for which date. When a top leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held an informal chat with journalists, several ministers phoned journalists and wanted to know if the leader gave any indication about the shape of the Cabinet reshuffle. However, Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah have perfected the art of keeping everyone guessing, including journalists and their own party.