As preparations are on for the swearing-in of a new government led by Narendra Modi, various BJP and National Democratic Alliance constituents have begun receiving calls to join the Cabinet.
The Minister-designates have started arriving at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg to meet Mr. Modi. The swearing-in ceremony is set to begin at 7 p.m.
The Shiv Sena on Thursday said its Mumbai South MP Arvind Sawant will be part of the Union Council of Ministers.
Many of those who have received calls are those who have been Ministers in the previous administration. There are also some new inductees. Sources say allies are slated to get one seat each — one each for the Shiv Sena, the Lok Jan Shakti Party, the Janata Dal (United), the Shiromani Akali Dal, the Asom Gana Parishad, the Apna Dal, the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party and the Republican Party of India (A).
Sources in BJP said party president Amit Shah was calling up ministerial-designates. These include ministers Arjun Ram Meghwal, Narendra Tomar, D.V. Sadananda Gowda, Ramdas Athawale, Suresh Angadi, Prakash Javadekar, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Piyush Goyal, Dr. Jitendra Singh, Kiren Rijiju, Mansukh Mandaviya, Dharmendra Pradhan, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Nitin Gadkari, Ram Vilas Paswan, Sushma Swaraj, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Smriti Irani, Nirmala Sitharaman, Rajnath Singh, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Ratanlal Kataria, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Sripad Naik, Purushottam Rupala, and Babul Supriyo.
New names such as Kailash Chaudhury, R.C.P. Singh, Debashree Chaudhry, Rameshwar Teli, Arvind Sawant, Prahlad Patel, Somprakash, Kishan Reddy, Kishanpal Gujjar, Renuka Singh Saruta, and Arjun Munda were also surfacing as probable ministers.
Mr. Modi and BJP president Amit Shah held marathon meetings on Tuesday evening and Wednesday afternoon to finalise the list of Ministers. It remains unclear if Mr. Shah would be made a Minister since the BJP follows “one man one post” rule. The sources said Mr. Shah was keen on retaining the top party post, with several State elections ahead, including Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Haryana, but his presence in the Cabinet was also being considered.
Later in the evening, Gujarat BJP chief Jitu Vaghani said he congratulated Mr. Shah, who will be part of the Union Council of Ministers. The BJP's official handle is yet to confirm it.
