Cabinet expansion unlikely before Assembly polls

Amit Shah set to announce his new team

The Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is unlikely to see a reshuffle or an expansion before the conclusion of the Assembly elections in Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir (by end of this year), sources say.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, is set to see a generational shift when new party president Amit Shah announces his organisational team in the next couple of days.

It has been discussed, both within the BJP and the National Democratic Alliance government, that the burden on some ministers who have two or three portfolios should be reduced.

Earlier, many in the party believed a Cabinet expansion might be carried out after the end of the Budget session of Parliament. But now, many say delaying such a move till the next round of Assembly elections will help Modi gauge the performance of those slated for inclusion in the Cabinet.

Meanwhile, BJP president Shah is likely to choose a new and young team, apart from scouting for replacements of office-bearers who have now become ministers such as

party Treasurer Piyush Goyal, General-Secretaries Ananth Kumar, Thawarchand Gehlot and Dharmendra Pradhan and Vice-Presidents Smriti Irani and Uma Bharti.

There is some disquiet among party senior leaders about the likelihood of those aged less than 50 being preferred. Among party vice-presidents, C P Thakur, S S Ahluwalia, Balbir Punj, Satya Pal Malik, Laxmi Kanta Chawal and Kalyan Singh are aged above 50. Kalyan Singh is being coaxed to take up the governorship of Rajasthan.

Those likely to find a place in Shah’s team include Ram Madav and Shiv Prakash (both former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh members), Poonam Mahajan and Anurag Thakur.