It was not clear immediately as to what transpired between Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, but possibly they discussed the formation of the Council of Ministers
Pic/Instagram
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah held a marathon meeting on Tuesday to discuss crucial aspects of the new government and the likely allocation of ministerial berths.
The meeting comes two days ahead of the swearing-in of the new government.
It was not clear immediately as to what transpired between them, but possibly they discussed the formation of the Council of Ministers.
The meeting, which lasted around five hours, also assumes significance as there is a buzz in the political circles that Shah may join the government. However, Shah himself has always evaded an answer to this stating that he is not in the know of the matter.
All eyes are now on the Council of Ministers, with several names doing the rounds.
Sources in the BJP said senior party leaders Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Prakash Javadekar, Suresh Prabhu, Nirmala Sitharaman, Smriti Irani, Maneka Gandhi and J.P. Nadda are likely to retain Cabinet berths.
The JD-U and Shiv Sena are likely to get two ministerial berths in the Modi government, one Cabinet berth and one minister of state (MoS) position.
The JD-U is the third largest party in the National Democratic Alliance, after the BJP and Shiv Sena. The BJP has 303 MPs while Shiv Sena has 18 MPs.
ADVERTISEMENT
AIADMK, an ally of the NDA, which managed to get only one seat in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, is expected to get one ministerial berth. One berth each will be there for LJP and SAD.
Harsimrat Kaur Badal of Akali Dal and Ram Vilas Paswan of LJP are also likely to be inducted in the Modi Cabinet.
Sources said that around 65 leaders may take an oath of office and secrecy along with Prime Minister Modi.
They said many new and young faces may join the government as junior ministers while some of the former ministers of state can be retained.
On the other hand, leaders from all BIMSTEC member-states have confirmed attendance for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony on May 30, according to Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar. The decision to invite the leaders from the grouping is in line with the government's 'Neighbourhood First' policy.
Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also, download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get the latest updates
Edited by mid-day online desk with inputs from Agencies
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
