CCEA & Union Cabinet meetings scheduled hours ahead of major reshuffle cancelled

In a key development, sources revealed that meetings of the Union Cabinet and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs scheduled for Wednesday have been cancelled. While the CCEA was set to commence its deliberations at 11 am, the Cabinet meeting was reportedly going to take place at 11.05 am. Besides PM Modi, the members of the CCEA include Union Ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman. Nitin Gadkari, S Jaishankar, Ravi Shankar Prasad, DV Sadanand Gowda, Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan and Narendra Singh Tomar. While no specific reason for the cancellation has been cited yet, this assumes importance ahead of the Union Cabinet reshuffle. 

Cabinet reshuffle to take place today

In a first confirmation that the Union Cabinet reshuffle is likely to take place anytime soon, Thaawarchand Gehlot was dropped from the Council of Ministers and appointed as the Governor of Karnataka. The new gubernatorial appointments include Dr. Hari Babu Kambhampati (Mizoram) Mangubhai Chhaganbhai Patel (Madhya Pradesh) and Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar (Himachal Pradesh). On the other hand, Mizoram Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai, Haryana Governor Satyadev Narayan Arya, HP Governor Bandaru Dattatraya and Tripura Governor Ramesh Bais have been transferred to the states of Goa, Tripura, Haryana and Jharkhand respectively. 

Sources have told Republic TV that the new Ministers will be sworn in at the Rashtrapati Bhavan at about 5.30-6 pm on Wednesday. Apna Dal (S) leader Anupriya Patel, ex-Maharashtra CM Narayan Rane, former Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal and LJP president Chirag Paswan's uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras have been summoned to Delhi which implies that they have a strong chance of being a part of the Modi Cabinet. The other names in contention include Pritam Munde, Zafar Islam, Jyotiraditya Scindia, etc. 

Moreover, Bihar JD(U) president Umesh Singh Kushwaha confirmed that his party will be a part of the Union Cabinet. Thus, JD(U) will be represented in the Council of Ministers at the Centre for the first time in 17 years. As per sources, party president RCP Singh and Lok Sabha MP Lalan Singh are expected to be inducted into the Union Cabinet from the JD(U) quota. Union Ministers such as Narendra Singh Tomar, Dharmendra Pradhan, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Smriti Irani might be divested of their additional portfolios, sources added.