PM’s meeting with Ministers cancelled
Amid cabinet expansion buzz, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with top ministers and BJP chief JP Nadda, which was scheduled for 5 PM, has been cancelled, sources have said.
A discussion on performance of ministers and proposals on future schemes was believed to be the agenda of the meeting.
Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and other Union Ministers – Dharmendra Pradhan, Pralhad Joshi, Piyush Goyal and Narendra Singh Tomar – were expected to attend the meeting.
PM Modi held a meeting with top ministers on June 20 to review the functioning of the government in the last two years.
The Union Cabinet, which can have 81 members, currently has 53 ministers. This means 28 ministers can be added.
As PM Modi expands his cabinet for the first time in his second term, he is likely to factor in polls in five states next year and the 2024 national election.
Amid reshuffle buzz, spotlight is on several leaders – Jyotiraditya Scindia, former Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Pashupati Paras, who led the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) coup in Bihar against ex-Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan’s son Chirag Paswan.