Cabinet reshuffle: PM Modi unlikely to meet with ministers today

New Delhi, July 06: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with the ministers amidst the buzz of a Cabinet reshuffle has been cancelled.

The PM is unlikely to have the meet with the ministers today. Earlier it was said that the PM would meet with the ministers as well as BJP chief J P Nadda.

The reshuffle that is likely to take place on July 7 is aimed at filling up 20 vacancies. The dispensation is likely to focus on younger leaders during the re-jig. A strong message ahead of the polls in several states next year including the all important state of Uttar Pradesh is likely to be sent out during the expansion, sources tell OneIndia. When asked when the exercise is likely to take place, the source said that it could happen by July 7 or by the end of the week.

On Monday, PM Modi met with Union Minister Amit Shah and top BJP leader, B L Santhosh. Today, the PM would meet with some top ministers as well as J P Nadda.

Several ministers are overburdened with numerous portfolios and hence the reshuffle becomes important so that they are eased of their responsibilities, sources tell OneIndia. Talk of a rejig and expansion further gained steam after the Prime Minister met with the Council of Ministers.

While with the current dispensation nothing is known until the actual announcement is made, some of the new entrants could include former Assam chief minister, Sarbananda Sonowal, former Uttarakhand CM, Trivendra Singh Rawat, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Apna Dal (S) leader Anupriya Patel from Uttar Pradesh.

Sonowal has a very high rating in the party. When the BJP formed the government for the first time in Assam, he was the CM. This time he was replaced by Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Union Home Minister, Amit Shah has already met with Anupriya Patel and Nishad Party leader, Sanjay Nishad from UP. Sarma was in Delhi and had met with the top leadership

The entry of Scindia would put to rest all rumours that have been doing the rounds regarding a change of CM in Madhya Pradesh.

Dinesh Trivedi who quit the TMC and joined the BJP is also likely to be accommodated in the ministry.

This would send a strong message across in Bengal, where Mukul Roy re-joined the TMC after quitting from BJP.

The other names that have been doing the rounds are that of former Bihar deputy CM, Sushil Kumar Modi and LJP's Pasupati Kumar Paras, who recently staged a coup against Chirag Paswan, the son of the late Ram Vilas Paswan.

The reshuffle would also see the filling up of vacant ministries due to the deaths of Paswan and Suresh Angadi. The vacancies created due to the exit of Harsimrat Kaur Badal of the Shiromani Akali Dal and Arvind Samant of the Shiv Sena will also be filled up during the reshuffle.

Sources also say a couple of existing ministers are also likely to be moved to other ministries. One may not any exits, but yes there will be a few changes, the source also said.

The reshuffle would also keep in mind the states going to polls next year. The performance of the minsters in the handling of the pandemic will also be taken into account. Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Goa and the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh will be going to polls in the immediate future.