Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday met Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh giving further momentum to the talk of an imminent cabinet reshuffle possible early next week.
The stage is set for the Cabinet reshuffle, scheduled to be held on Wednesday evening at 5 pm, after the names of the outgoing and new ministers were finalised in a two-hour long meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday.
Congress Legislature Party leader and Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coordination committee chief Siddaramaiah said no one would leave the Congress and there was no disgruntlement either.
In a similar move in July 2019, 10 Congress MLAs had switched over to the BJP.
The reshuffle in the Union Cabinet, carried out on Wednesday, appears to have some focus on assembly election-bound states like Kerala and Uttar Pradesh.
The RSS wants three nominees inducted: Tejaswi Surya, the young BJP MP from Bengaluru South, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, a Rajya Sabha member, and former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.
With his government's image taking a beating due to sleaze and corruption allegations, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has carried out a reshuffle of his ministerial team, dropping six ministers including Education Minister Bharosilal Jatav facing illegal mining charge.
Over the past week, Rahul Gandhi has replaced office-bearers in charge of party units in Gujarat and Karnataka and Goa, and brought in young leaders as secretaries. These changes are unlikely to be a one-time exercise and poll-bound states would get the primary attention.
The disquiet over Kapil Sibal... Modi's rise rattles the UPA... Nitin Gadkari is missed... All this, and more, in this week's Dilli Gupshup
Dr Singh may apprise the President of his intention to expand his ministry ahead of the Budget session, which is likely to start in the third week of February.
In a big organisational rejig, the BJP named Union minister G Kishan Reddy, Sunil Jakhar and Babulal Marandi as party presidents in Telangana, Punjab and Jharkhand respectively.
The appointees are expected to reflect Rahul Gandhi's vision of a new Congress with MP and Rahul's "bench mate" in the LS, KC Venugopal, expected to play an important role.
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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.
AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam is said to be upset at his son Raveendranath Kumar, a Lok Sabha MP, being denied a ministerial chance for a second time in a row, beginning with the formation of Modi 2.0 in 2019, reveals N Sathiya Moorthy.
Congress has no plans to follow suit in the wake of its ruling coalition partner in Maharashtra Nationalist Congress Party on Friday taking the resignation of its 20 ministers in the state to go for a reshuffle in the party as well as the government.
The Congress party continues to be racked by arbitrary decision-making and the absence of accountability.
I don't want to hide that some questions are still being resolved, Rawat said.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, currently facing recommendations for expulsion from the Lok Sabha in a cash-for-query row, was tasked with strengthening the party's organisation in West Bengal's Nadia district ahead of the 2024 general elections, in a clear message of support from the TMC.
Tensions are rising within the ruling Mahayuti coalition in Maharashtra amid internal conflicts and open threats over unresolved issues like cabinet expansion and Rajya Sabha nominations.
Ministerial expansion: Focus on Purvanchal, Brahmin voters in UP.
'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.
Narendra Modi will take oath as the prime minister for a third consecutive term on Sunday evening as President Droupadi Murmu has invited him to form the government.
The one-year-old Himachal Pradesh Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu was expanded on Tuesday with the induction of Rajesh Dharmani and Yadvinder Goma as cabinet ministers.
The central election authority of the Congress met and finalised the initial program of the process.
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.
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.
Sources said the reshuffle will also aim at an image makeover for the party hit by school jobs scam probe.
BJP sources said a meeting of the National Democratic Alliance is expected to take place soon to highlight its growing strength and to dispel the impression that the departure of some of its oldest allies such as the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, Shiromani Akali Dal and the Janata Dal-United have the left the saffron party without a major partner.
Babbar was elected from Agra as its Lok Sabha MP twice -- in 1999 and 2004. However, following delimitation in 2008, the Lok Sabha seat became reserved for the scheduled castes.
Office space allotted to its functionaries at the Congress headquarters on 24 Akbar Road has, over the years, emerged as a reliable yardstick to measure a leader's standing in the party hierarchy, says Anita Katyal.
Congress and independent MLAs, who had expectations from the cabinet expansion but were not accommodated in the reshuffle, would be adjusted in political appointments.
Rahul has been pushing for greater democracy within the party, a suggestion frequently side swept by Sonia Gandhi, says Renu Mittal
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.
With the Rajasthan cabinet reshuffle scheduled for later in the day, Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Sunday expressed his satisfaction over the move and stated that the inclusion of four Dalit ministers in the cabinet has sent out a positive message about the party and the state government.
Speaking to reporters in Panaji, the BJP's Goa desk in-charge C T Ravi said there was no discontent among the eight MLAs who joined the party earlier this year.
Initiating a reshuffle within the party, Congress president Sonia Gandhi appointed K C Venugopal as its general secretary in-charge for Karnataka along with four secretaries.
'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.
Speaking about whether the Congress was prepared for a snap poll, Gandhi said, "the party is always prepared".
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.
A Cabinet reshuffle 'is unavoidable', said a top party manager, and indicated it could take place before, or immediately after, the monsoon session of Parliament, likely for four weeks from the beginning of next month, possibly August 7.
