Portfolios of more than half-a-dozen ministers are expected to be changed.
Opposition parties have not been given the chairmanship of any of the four key parliamentary panels including the committee on home affairs and information technology, which were with the Congress, in the latest rejig announced on Tuesday.
It is possible to be blind to this and pretend to carry on as if nothing has happened but that will not change the reality, asserts Aakar Patel.
Vajpayee held consultations with Deputy Prime Minister Advani, BJP president Venkaiah Naidu and Finance Minister Jaswant Singh in this regard on Monday night.
Non-performers were not punished, performers were not rewarded, points out Utkarsh Mishra.
'While Piyush Goel, Dharmendra Pradhan, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and a clutch of former bureaucrats including R K Singh, Hardeep Singh Puri and K J Alphons are loyal BJP members, none of them fit the mould of party apparatchiks.' 'In fact, many of the latter kind have been shown the door or have been given reduced charges.' 'That goes to show the prime minister's comfort level in dealing with professionals and administrators and the trust he reposes in them,' says Shreekant Sambrani.
'If, as happened in Baramulla during the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the youth in the Valley get triggered enough to jump into the wider fray, the end result would be difficult to predict, especially as the state's post-August 5, 2019 political format remains substantially fragmented and foggy,' points out Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the veteran commentator on Kashmir affairs.
BJP president Amit Shah's influence in the Narendra Modi cabinet revamp was evident from the inclusion of Jagat Prakash Nadda, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.
In a shot in the arm for the Bharatiya Janata Party in Bihar, Chirag Paswan on Sunday cast aside his ambivalence and announced that he will campaign for the saffron party in bypolls to two assembly segments in the state.
Ahead of the Cabinet expansion and reshuffle of the Union Council of Ministers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hosted a breakfast meet for the new faces to be inducted in his Cabinet.
In a similar move in July 2019, 10 Congress MLAs had switched over to the BJP.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has rejigged his team only once, in July 2021, in his second term, unlike in his first stint, when he reshuffled and expanded his council three times.
For the first time, non-upper castes are in a majority in the board, as the party continues with its outreach to traditionally weaker and backward sections of society.
A section of state leaders are reportedly miffed with Rawat's leadership and are of the view that the party's electoral prospects under him may not be very bright.
'As long as Rane is the point-person, the Sena will never revive its partnership with the BJP.'
'Till the time the MSM and Modi don't trust one another, expect more Nirmala Sitharamans springing out from nowhere,' says Sudhir Bisht.
Modi, Shah and Nadda have created a strategy to boost the BJP and the government's image.
Speculation mounted on Wednesday evening over the possibility of a Union cabinet reshuffle, may be as early as Sunday, as Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar met Prime Minister Narendra Modi amidst reports that he could get the defence portfolio.
Amid signals of disgruntlement among a section of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka over the delay in expansion or reshuffle of the cabinet, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who will be on an official visit to Delhi on April 30, said on Thursday he has not thought about meeting the party high command for now.
'Commentators have said that dealing with allies as equals will make Modi more sensitive.' 'Remember that the people Modi is dealing with are equally autocratic in their own lairs.' 'Further, Modi always has handy the threat of dissolving Parliament and calling for fresh polls.' 'Most of his own party, and certainly his allies and opponents having blown their budgets of efforts and resources in the just concluded elections, have no stomach for this.' 'They are all greatly looking forward to the loaves and fishes of office on offer.' 'That gives Modi an unbeatable advantage in any push-comes-to-shove situation,' explains Shreekant Sambrani.
"If you look at newspapers, you will see that Modi Ji was the first to greet Yogij Ji (on birthday). In fact, we are of the view that Yogi ji is the most competent implement to fulfil the dreams of Modijee," he said.
He further said that he is now looking forward to fulfilling Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision in the Earth Sciences Ministry.
In private, questions are being raised about the wisdom of a 'dual-SIM' leadership during the long run-up to the 2026 assembly polls where 'family rule' could become an election issue, reports N Sathiya Moorthy.
Four junior ministers - Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Sanjiv Kumar Balyan, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahendra Nath Pandey - have resigned ahead of the rejig.
The clarification came in the wake of speculation within a section of the ruling Congress about a change in leadership after two-and-half years of this government's tenure.
Minister of State Prahlad Singh Patel on Monday posted on social media platform X that the Union Cabinet has approved the women's reservation bill, but deleted the post within an hour.
Uttam Ghosh offers his take on a strange regurgitation of history.
'The BJP used Shinde and Shiv Sena to decimate Uddhav Thackeray, humiliate him by taking away his party as well as party symbol.' 'The Shiv Sena and Eknath Shinde have served their purpose.'
Nine MLAs, including Babul Supriyo, took oath as ministers in West Bengal on Wednesday, in a major reshuffle of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's cabinet.
'Parrikar died twice...once on March 17 physically while today it is the death of his political legacy'
'Scindia did not just come to a new party, it was an ideological shift for him. In the past one and a half years, Scindia never lost communication with RSS leaders in the state. He left no stone unturned to ensure his acceptability in the party'
With the BJP's strength in the 40-member Goa assembly increasing to 27 with two-thirds of Congress legislators joining it, the Sawant government does not need allies' support any longer.
The BJP has decided to revamp the organisation by rewarding efficient party workers and leaders and remove several turncoats from local and district levels.
Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Sarbananda Sonowal, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Narayan Rane, all of whom are being seen as probables for induction as ministers in the Modi government, arrived in the national capital on Tuesday amid indications that the Union Council of Ministers is likely to be expanded on Wednesday.
The Chief Minister has been under intense pressure for some time now, over expansion and rejig of the Cabinet not taking place, to make way for the fresh faces, ahead of Assembly elections by April-May next year.
Both the BJP and the JD-U abetted the LJP split but interestingly, independently. And there hangs a tale of conflicting interests, gamesmanship, subterfuge, and retribution, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
Though the chief minister indicated seven new faces will be inducted, he did not make it clear whether it will be a cabinet expansion or reshuffle.
Those meeting Modi included BJP's Narayan Rane, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Ajay Bhatt, Bhupender Yadav, Shobha Karandlaje, Pritam Munde and Meenakshi Lekhi, Lok Janshakti Party's Pashupati Paras and Apna Dal's Anupriya Patel, sources said.
The Cabinet reshuffle on Sunday left the Opposition unimpressed with the Bharatiya Janata Party saying it will not do any good to the country or to the ruling Congress and the promised infusion of young blood in the team has not been kept.
Palanivel Thiaga Rajan was on the hit-list, not because the chief minister was unhappy with his performance, but because there were constant complaints from other ministers that he was sitting on their files far too long, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
