Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s second oath ceremony tomorrow after his massive victory in the national elections, is being preceded by a flurry of meetings – at his house and the house of party chief Amit Shah. Along with the Prime Minister, his council of ministers will also take oath at a dazzling ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan that will be attended by world leaders, celebrities and politicians.
While the number and names of the leaders who would take oath tomorrow as ministers in the second stint of the NDA government have been kept under wraps, there is much speculation about the composition of the cabinet.
PM Modi and Amit Shah — who had a five-hour meeting yesterday — met again this evening for a three-hour session. While no details were available, the meetings are understood to be part of the process of finalizing the government portfolios.
While so far, the Prime Minister has met Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, party chief Amit Shah has met Arjun Ram Meghwal, who was the junior minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Ram Lal, the BJP’s General Secretary of Organisation. Principal Secretary to PM Modi, Nripendra Mishra and Additional Secretary PK Mishra are also attending the sessions at Amit Shah’s residence.
The Prime Minister also visited senior leader Arun Jaitley, who wrote to him earlier today, saying he could not be part of the new government for now as he is under doctors’ orders to take care of his health.
Mr Jaitley – who has been ailing for a while — had handled the finance portfolio and the Prime Minister is expected to ask him to reconsider his decision.
There might be some changes in the key ministries of home, finance, defence and external affairs. But sources indicated no major change is likely in the line-up after that and most ministers may stay on.
Some changes, though, are likely to be made to accommodate allies like Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United and the Akali Dal and also to ensure representation of Bengal, Odisha and the northeast – new zones that have embraced the party.
Sources indicated that Nitish Kumar, the Bihar ally who acted as catalyst in the BJP’s massive victory in the state, has asked for two cabinet berths.
There has been speculation about Amit Shah joining the cabinet but many in the BJP say it cannot afford to lose his organizational skills at a time the party needs to win crucial state elections ahead and raise its numbers in the Rajya Sabha.
Sources have told NDTV that PM Modi is expected to call ministers-designate tomorrow morning for tea at this residence.
