The much-anticipated cabinet expansion will take place this evening it is reported. There is a chance that GVL Narsimha Rao the RD member from Andhra will have a berth in the central Cabinet.
The proposed cabinet meeting has been put off because of the Cabinet expansion.
It will be the post of the Minister of state. The new names will be mostly from the states that are due for the elections in the coming months. It will also have names who would work for the BJP for the next general elections in 2024.
Of the 59 ministers in the Narendra Modi cabinet, 21 have cabinet ranks, 9 have independent charges while 29 are Ministers of State. The Union cabinet can have a maximum of 81 ministers. Of these 59, 10 are Rajya Sabha MPs.
The remaining 49 ministers, who are Lok Sabha MPs, represent 21 states.
The maximum number of representation in the cabinet is from Uttar Pradesh (8), Maharashtra (6), Bihar (5), Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat (4 each), Rajasthan (3), Odisha, Haryana and West Bengal have two each with the remaining ministers coming from Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Delhi, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Telangana, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Arunachal Pradesh
The central Cabinet will be in such a fashion that it will cover the Assembly segments in 5 states especially the UP.
The most discussed name which is popular in the party circles, in Delhi and in Bhopal, is Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his possible induction in the cabinet, which is going to be the last such exercise before the 2024 general elections.
Jyotiraditya Scindia being given a place in the cabinet, irrespective of Chouhan’s possible entry, is being described as a “foregone conclusion”.