Time to finalise cabinet; Narendra Modi a busy man with crucial meetings lined up

New Delhi: All set to be India’s next Prime Minister, Narendra Modi is a busy man meeting top leaders to finalise his cabinet. There has been a lot of talk on who will get the top posts in the government and who really would be Modi’s core team.

On Tuesday, BJP’s 282 new Lok Sabha MPs would elect Modi as their leader and he will then stake claim to form government.

Earlier on Sunday, hectic parleys were held between top BJP and RSS leaders over the composition of the Cabinet in a Narendra Modi-led government. Though the RSS said it does not interfere in the BJP’s functioning, the Sangh is expected to have a decisive say on what shape the Modi Cabinet takes.

Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi had a series of meetings with top party figures, including Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje, former Karnataka CM B.S. Yeddyurappa and senior leader Ananth Kumar. He also met veteran leaders L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi on Sunday.

Speculation is rife that Mr Advani will be made Lok Sabha Speaker as the RSS is not in favour of allowing him to remain NDA chairman, as he desires. Mr Modi also met Bihar in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan over developments in the state after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s resignation on Saturday, as well as close aide and UP in-charge Amit Shah. RSS joint general secretary Suresh Soni also met Mr Modi. Sources said that the new government could be formed by May 25.

Top leaders of the BJP, including Sushma Swaraj, M. Venkaiah Naidu, Amit Shah, Kalraj Mishra, Ananth Kumar, Sumitra Mahajan, Gopinath Munde and Harsh Vardhan, among others, met top RSS leaders, including Bhaiyya Joshi, who have been camping in Delhi. BJP general secretary Rajiv Pratap Rudy also met the RSS leaders.