Cabinet reshuffle soon. Sonowal, Rane may get berths

As PM Modi expands his cabinet for the first time in his second term, he is likely to factor in polls in five states next year and the general elections in 2024.

Amid indications of the much-awaited cabinet expansion, several leaders from different political parties are travelling to Delhi. Among them are Sarbananda Sonowal of the BJP and leaders of the Janata Dal(United) RCP Singh and Lallan Singh. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi expands his cabinet for the first time in his second term, he is likely to factor in polls in five states next year, including Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, and the general elections in 2024. West Bengal is also likely to get a greater representation. The Union cabinet, which can have 81 members, currently has 53 ministers.

Sarbananda Sonowal arrived in the Capital on Tuesday ahead of the much-awaited cabinet expansion. (ANI File Photo)

After a series of meetings between PM Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP national president JP Nadda, the buzz around cabinet expansion has gathered steam in recent days. Union minister Thawarchand Gehlot's appointment is also being seen as another indication of the cabinet expansion. Thawarchand Gehlot was named as Karnataka Governor ahead of the cabinet reshuffle expected to take place soon.

Here are the leaders who could be accommodated in the cabinet expansion:

1. Jyotiraditya Scindia, who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in March 2020, said he will take a flight to Delhi this afternoon from Indore after offering morning prayers at Ujjain's famous Mahakal temple.

2. Former Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal arrived in the Capital on Tuesday ahead of the much-awaited cabinet expansion.

3. RCP Singh and Lallan Singh of the JD (U), an ally of the BJP which did not have any representation in the Union council of ministers so far, are also expected to get berths in the cabinet reshuffle.

4. Shantanu Thakur, from the Matua community that was wooed by the BJP ahead of the West Bengal assembly elections 2021, is also expected to be named as a minister in cabinet reshuffle. Thakur, a lawmaker from West Bengal, accompanied Narendra Modi on his Bangladesh visit ahead of the polls.

5. Nisith Pramanik, another member of Parliament from West Bengal, is also expected to make it into the Union cabinet. Pramanik is from the Rajbanshi community and he figures in the Bharatiya Janata Party's scheme of things. He was a member of Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress before joining the BJP in March 2019.

6. Anupriya Patel, who has held the position of a Union minister before, comes from the Apna Dal an important ally of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, which is scheduled to hold assembly elections next year. The Apna Dal has considerable support among the Kurmis in Uttar Pradesh.

7. Narayan Rane is also among the leaders likely to fly to Delhi ahead of cabinet expansion. He joined the BJP in October last year. Rane switched to the Congress after he was expelled from the Shiv Sena for anti-party activities. He then floated the Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha.