New Delhi: The crucial Cabinet reshuffle, to take place on Sunday morning, hit its first hurdle when the Janata Dal (United), which recently joined the NDA, indicated on Saturday that it is not likely to join the Modi Cabinet.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said in Patna on Saturday, “There was no talk of JD(U) joining the Union Cabinet. No talks were held on the issue (between the BJP and JD-U).”
Till Friday there were clear signals that two JD(U) MPs would be joining the Union Council of Ministers.
BJP chief Amit Shah met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday evening to finalise the reshuffle, and there were indications that besides the JD(U), Shiv Sena is also unlikely to join the government. Chances of the AIADMK, which recently merged its two factions, joining the Cabinet also appeared to be dim.
Mr Modi and Mr Shah have held a series of meetings before the reshuffle, which is expected to be the last and largest before the 2019 general elections.
In the lead up to the reshuffle, six ministers have resigned so far — Kalraj Mishra, Bandaru Dattatreya, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Sanjiv Kumar Balyan, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahindra Nath Pandey. The fate of water resources minister Uma Bharti hangs in the balance.
