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Union cabinet reshuffle may lead to crucial changes in Team Yogi: Report
Apna Dal leader Anupriya Patel's husband Ashish and Nishad Party founder Sanjay Nishad are expected to be accommodated in Yogi Adityanath's cabinet, according to Live Hindustan.
The reshuffle of Union Cabinet, expected to take place on Wednesday, is likely to lead to some crucial changes to Yogi Adityanath cabinet in Uttar Pradesh, Hindustan Times' sister publication Live Hindustan reported. The chief minister can expand his cabinet to accommodate allies, balance the caste equation and stem the reported discontent among some leaders, according to Live Hindustan.
Catch the latest on Union Cabinet reshuffle
Some new faces are expected to join the Uttar Pradesh cabinet, and the Yogi government can use the Legislative Council route to induct them in the government, according to Live Hindustan. Four seats are vacant in the upper house of state legislature.
The Council of Ministers in Uttar Pradesh can have a strength of 60. After the demise of Chetan Chauhan, Kamal Rani Varun and Vijay Kashyap, there are six vacancies in the state cabinet.
The Modi government will expand its cabinet today evening. And if a leader from Uttar Pradesh can't find a place in the Union Cabinet, he/she is likely to be accommodated in the state cabinet, according to Live Hindustan. Anupriya Patel, the chief of BJP ally Apna Dal, is widely tipped to be accommodated in the Union Cabinet. If that doesn't happen, her husband Ashish Patel could find a place in Yogi cabinet, reported Live Hindustan. Sanjay Nishad, who founded the Nishad Party, may also be given a cabinet berth in UP.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is very keen to balance the cabinet in Uttar Pradesh, where elections are due next year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi met chief minister Yogi Adityanath last month where discussion about cabinet expansion is believed to have taken place.
The Wednesday's expansion of Union Cabinet will be the first one by PM Modi since taking office in second term in 2019. The buzz around cabinet reshuffle intensified after a series of meetings between PM Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP president JP Nadda in the national capital on Tuesday.
