A week after assuming power in Karnataka, the Congress on Friday released the list of 24 legislators who will be sworn-in as ministers to fill up all the vacant ministerial positions.
After a slew of programmes to facilitate electric-vehicle (EV) adoption in India, the NITI Aayog has said the government has done enough on incentives and now it's time to take the programme a step further with "strong signals" through regulations and mandates.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said the Mahayuti allies have agreed to conduct a 'performance audit' of ministers during their tenure.
Five days after the induction of 18 ministers into his cabinet, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday allocated portfolios, keeping Urban Development and 11 other ministries with himself, while giving the crucial Home Department to Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis.
Despite the Congress high command's directive to avoid discussing the 'next chief minister', supporters of both Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi continue to publicly push for their respective leaders to take the top spot. This comes amidst reports of a pact that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah would lead the state for the first two and a half years and Shivakumar would take over for the rest of the term.
'It indicates the grooming of the party's new leadership.' 'It is also a signal to the states that these ministers represent.'
Nine MLAs will be sworn in as ministers at the Raj Bhavan at 11:45am, Sai told reporters on Thursday.
The discussion between the former deputy chief minister and the Gandhi siblings comes days after the dramatic developments in Punjab where the Congress replaced Amarinder Singh as chief minister and appointed Charanjit Singh Channi, a Dalit leader, to the top post of the state.
A reshuffle-cum-expansion of Union Council of Ministers appears to be on the cards after the July 19 Presidential elections.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has attributed the recent state assembly election victory to the role of Hindutva and counter-polarization. He described BJP's Hindutva as a way of life and said it played an important role in mobilizing voters. Fadnavis also alleged that the opposition alliance had an agreement to withdraw riot cases against Muslims. He further commented on PM Modi's inclusive Hindutva and the increased voter turnout in the election.
Newly-inducted minister Sanjay Rathod, who also served as a minister in the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led state government, had resigned last year after he was linked to a woman's death in Pune.
During a cabinet meeting earlier in the day, Modi lauded both Naqvi and Singh for their contributions to the country during their ministerial tenure, sources said.
The new ministers include 20 of cabinet rank and eight ministers of state. The Chouhan ministry strength is now 34. Chouhan took oath as chief minister for a record fourth term on March 23, after Nath resigned from the post following rebellion by 22 MLAs of the Congress.
A day after the Maharashtra cabinet expansion, the Shiv Sena claimed administering ministerial oath to rebels MLAs whose disqualification pleas are pending before the Supreme Court, amounted to murder of democracy and the Constitution.
State chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has said that he would be meeting party chief Sonia Gandhi to finalise the ministers' list.
The new faces in the Channi ministry are Randeep Singh Nabha, Raj Kumar Verka, Sangat Singh Gilzian, Pargat Singh, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and Gurkirat Singh Kotli.
Bhupender Yadav's entry to the Modi government as a Cabinet minister is seen as his just reward after serving as a party office-bearer for the longest term among all current occupants.
Sharad Pawar and other NCP-SP leaders will take a decision on whom to take back in the fold, said the MLA from Karjat-Jamkhed in Ahmednagar district.
Most of the 40 MLAs in the Shinde camp don't have enough legislative experience to conduct business in the House and so the first ministry expansion needed induction of veterans.
Bharatiya Janata Party national spokesperson and former Union minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, who got elected to the Bihar legislative council last month, was on Tuesday sworn in as a member of the Nitish Kumar cabinet.
Violence erupted in the central Maharashtra city of Parbhani after a replica of the Constitution was vandalized. Around 50 people have been detained for the protests, while a man with mental health issues has been arrested for allegedly damaging the replica. Opposition leaders condemned the incident, calling for strict action against those responsible. The situation is under control, but tensions remain high in the city.
Top Congress leaders on Thursday held discussions with Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar over expansion of the state Cabinet, sources said.
Kumaraswamy also ruled out any differences among JD-S MLAs over cabinet berths and allocation of portfolios.
In Telangana, for more than two months, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao ran his government with just one cabinet colleague Mohammed Mahmood as Home Minister.
Influential Patel community leader Parshottam Rupala, minister in the first Narendra Modi government Mansukh Mandaviya and three-time MP Darshana Jardosh, all from Gujarat, were among those inducted in the Union cabinet on Wednesday.
The MLAs inducted into the Rajasthan cabinet are Meena, Madan Dilawar, Rathore, Gajendra Singh Khimsar, Babulal Kharadi, Jogaram Patel, Suresh Singh Rawat, Avinash Gehlot, Joraram Kumawat, Hemant Meena, Kanhaiya Lal Choudhary and Sumit Godara.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held deliberations with Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J P Nadda amid speculation about a reshuffle in the Union cabinet, an exercise Modi has not undertaken since forming the government for a second time in May 2019.
This is the first Cabinet expansion after he assumed office on July 26 and proved his government's majority on the floor of the assembly on July 29.
Singapore's long-ruling People's Action Party (PAP), led by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, has secured a landslide victory in the country's general election. The PAP won 87 of 97 seats, with voters endorsing the party's focus on stability and economic security amidst global uncertainties. Wong expressed gratitude for the strong mandate and vowed to tackle concerns about the cost of living and housing. The results mark a significant win for the PAP, which has been in power since Singapore's independence in 1965.
L Murugan, 44, is the only newly-sworn minister who is not a member of Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha.
Bharti is apparently miffed at not being included into the cabinet after Singh was on Tuesday in the cabinet expansion inducted for the third time as minister.
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Congress on Sunday took potshots at Narendra Modi's ministry expansion saying the inclusion of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Giriraj Singh was a "crisp slap" by the prime minister to secularism.
Leading home-grown companies - Dixon Technologies (India), Amber Enterprises India, Tata Electronics, Chennai-based Munoth Industries, and Murugappa Group - along with global majors such as Japan's TDK Corporation, Taiwan's Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn), Austria's AT&S Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik AG (AT&S AG), and Japan's Murata Manufacturing Co, among others, have expressed initial interest in participating in the Rs 22,919 crore production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme cleared by the Union Cabinet, according to those privy to stakeholder discussions with the government.
The Congress will get three ministerial berths in the new Nitish Kumar government in Bihar, a senior party leader said.
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.
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.
The factional fight of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has reached the doorstep of the Election Commission, with the group led by Ajit Pawar filing over 40 affidavits of MLAs and MPs in his support.
"Whoever is eligible according to them will be inducted into the cabinet. I have no stand about it. I try to do my politics by maintaining my pride," she added.
"It is natural that people cannot tolerate those who are growing. Vijayendra in no way at any moment has interfered (in administration). "As state vice president (BJP), he is doing his duty by travelling across the state to strengthen the party," Yediyurappa said in response to a question.
This is the first reshuffle in the Council of Ministers by Prime Minister Modi since he assumed charge for a second term in May 2019.
