The Central administration is soon to have a radical restructuring, as the Cabinet is soon to go through a reshuffle. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has not had any Cabinet changes after getting re-elected in 2019 by a huge vote margin. The induction ceremony is scheduled for 6 p.m. today (July 7) at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The Council of Ministers is currently running with 53 members while its full strength can be as high as 81. The likely candidates for the new positions on the Cabinet are Ajay Bhatt, Anurag Thakur, Bharati Pawar, Bhupender Yadav, G Kishan Reddy, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kapil Patil, Meenakshi Lekhi, Narayan Rane, Parshottam Rupala, Sarbananda Sonowal, Shantanu Thakur, Shobha Karandlaje and Sunita Duggal, all members of BJP. However, members of other parties are also likely to be appointed, including R C P Singh of Janata Dal (United), Lok Janshakti Dal’s Pashupati Paras, and Anupriya Patel from Apna Dal.
The Cabinet reshuffle comes as part of BJP’s vision of promoting the younger generation as their more experienced predecessors cannot be expected to remain forever. The reshuffle is also designed to accommodate representatives of more diverse social and linguistic groups onto the Cabinet.
Here is a coherent list of possible candidates for various Ministries (note that the following information is not fully confirmed, due discretion is advised):
1. Heena Gavit
MoS
Maharashtra
2. Bhupendra Yadav
MoS
Rajasthan
3. Shobha Karandlaje
MoS
Karnataka
4. Ajay Bhatt
MoS
Uttarakhand
5. Ajay Kumar Mishra
MoS
Uttar Pradesh
6. Pashupati Paras
MoS
Bihar
7. Sunita Duggal
MoS
Haryana
8. Narayan Rane
Cabinet
Maharashtra
9. Anupriya Patel
Cabinet
Uttar Pradesh
10. Meenakshi Lekhi
Unknown
New Delhi
11. Jyotiraditya Scindia
Cabinet
Madhya Pradesh
12. Sarbananda Sonowal
Cabinet
Bengal
13. Kapil Patil
MoS
Maharashtra
14. Shantanu Thakur
MoS
Bengal
15. Nisith Pramanik
MoS
Bengal
16. R C P Singh
MoS
Bihar
17. Bharati Pawar
MoS
Maharashtra
18. Rajeev Chandrashekhar
MoS
Karnataka
19. S P Singh Baghel
MoS
Uttar Pradesh
20. Darshana Jardosh
MoS
Gujarat
21. Virendra Kumar
MoS
Madhya Pradesh
22. Bhagwat Karad
MoS
Maharashtra
The following individuals are likely to be promoted to higher Ministries:
1. Anurag Thakur
MoS, Finance
2. G Kishan Reddy
MoS, Home Affairs
3. Parshottam Rupala
MoS, Agriculture & Farmers Welfare
Elevation
4. Hardeep Singh Puri
MoS (IC), Civil Aviation
It was earlier rumoured that some Ministers could also be resigning as part of the restructuring and indeed, a dozen resignations have been made public thus far:
1. Ramesh Pokhriyal
Minister, Education
2. Thawarchand Gehlot
Minister, Social Justice & Empowerment
3. Sanjay S Dhotre
MoS, Electronics & Info
4. Santosh Gangwar
MoS, Labour & Employment
5. Debasree Choudhuri
MoS, Women & Child Development
6. Ratan Lal Kataria
MoS, Social Justice & Empowerment
7.Pratap Chandra Sarangi
MoS, Animal Husbandry
8. Harsh Vardhan
Minister, Health & Family Welfare
9. Sadanand Gowda
Minister, Chemicals & Fertilizers
10. Rao Saheb Danve
MoS, Consumer Affairs
11. Ashwini Choubey
MoS, Health & Family Welfare
12. Babul Supriyo
MoS, Environment, Forest & Climate Change
