Cabinet reshuffle or ‘Maha chintan’; Modi keeps ministers guessing
BJP office bearers meeting (Image credit X @BJP4India)
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, July 1: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president JP Nadda held a meeting with party’s national general secretaries, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi pressed ahead with his engagement in Madhya Pradesh to warm up to the Assembly election later this year. The ministers in the council of ministers hold their breath as television stoke speculations over the possible reshuffle in the Cabinet ahead of the meeting of the council of ministers on Monday.
At the outset, it must be known without exception that specific details of such an exercise are known only to a very few within the top echelon of the BJP, and the outside world gets to know only after event gets unrolling. But the Cabinet reshuffle with induction of a few new faces has been on the card for months due to pressing political challenges for the saffron outfit in Bihar, Maharashtra, Punjab, and a few southern states were the party wishes to make inroads.
But is the Cabinet reshuffle only possible outcome of a planned meeting of the Council of Ministers (CoM)? No, Modi had been calling the meeting of the CoM for brainstorming, a sort of Chintan Baithak, after he took oath as prime minister for second term in 2019. At least three such meetings had been held in the Rashtrapati Bhavan in a relaxed atmosphere where the ministers share their “out of the box” ideas in governance.
However, the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the holding of the CoM. But early this year the ministries began holding ‘Chintan Shivir’ on the direction of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). Some of the ministries have held the ‘Chintan Shivir’ in the national capital, while a few others have gone to outskirts for more relaxed settings to brainstorm over challenges for the country in the next 25 years.
“Now that all the ‘Chintan Shivir’ by ministries have been held, the prime minister may like to hear from the ministers for their experiences which may be shared with fellow ministers for replication, as well as the states ruled by the BJP. Now that the Modi government is geared up for elections, the CoM could be an occasion for stock taking and the last mile slogging,” said an informed source.
Yet, the BJP, politically, has to bring in a few faces in the Cabinet to give profile to them ahead of the elections as part of realignment of allies, caste and regional balance. Also, the ministers who are not likely to contest the next Lok Sabha election may be shown exit doors. But largely the ‘Team Modi’ may not see a major rejig, because of the wont of Modi to stick with his colleagues in election year.
About The Author
