GM Siddeshwara was the sixth minister who was to be dropped from PM Modi's council.
Highlights
- Minister of State GM Siddeshwara was the sixth minister to be dropped
- Minister had a rally in his constituency to mark his 64th birthday
- Mr Siddeshwara likely to resign today as MoS, say BJP sources
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's changes to his government were so dramatic that several have warranted individual headlines.
A little late to the party is GM Siddeshwara, a Minister of State from Karnataka, who had been informed that he must quit on Tuesday, when the PM dropped five other ministers.
Mr Siddeshwara didn't- because he had lined up a big rally in his constituency- and will likely resign today, said sources in his party, the BJP.
"I told them I can't possibly come to Delhi on that day," the minister told NDTV, confirming that he had asked the BJP not to embarrass him by forcing him to cancel the public meeting lined up to mark his 64th birthday.
In addition to introducing 19 new junior ministers, PM Modi swapped a series of key portfolios in his cabinet with the boldface change being that of Smriti Irani leaving the Education Ministry to Prakash Javadekar, the sole member of the government to have been promoted to the cabinet in this reconfiguration.
With the changes, the council of ministers added up to 78 against a permissible limit of 82; with the resignation of Mr Siddeshwara, it will become 77.