President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday accepted the resignation of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who is set to take oath as Chief Minister of Goa on Tuesday, and allotted the Defence portfolio as additional charge to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
This was conveyed in an official communiqué from the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The departure of Mr. Parrikar from New Delhi and his Ministry has increased the chances of a larger Cabinet reshuffle after the second part of the Budget session which is currently under way and ends on April 12.
Top sources in the government say that it’s quite possible that there will be changes in the Cabinet, and that at least one Chief Minister of a BJP-ruled State in North India, could be moved to Delhi. A senior general secretary from the Central team of the BJP may be sent as a replacement Chief Minister there.
“Once the Parliament session is done, a larger Cabinet reshuffle is possible. There is a serious evaluation of certain BJP-ruled States and how they are being run. For example Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje could be considered for a Central tenure. She had been Minister for Personnel in the Vajpayee government and party general secretary Om Mathur, who hails from that State, could be moved there. On the other hand, if anyone from Delhi is moved to Uttar Pradesh or Uttarakhand, then too vacancies will be created in the Union Cabinet,” said the source.
PM’s grip unassailable
“With the victory in U.P., Prime Minister Modi’s grip over both the party and the government is unassailable and we don’t anticipate any kind of protest even if powerful chief ministers are called to Delhi,” said a senior office-bearer in the BJP privy to these developments.
The next national executive of the party is to be in April, right after the Parliament session is over. Much will be decided by then on the post-Assembly polls shake-up.
