PM Narendra Modi is likely to drop ministers who have failed to perform, sources said. (File photograph)
A cabinet reshuffle may be held in the wake of the BJP's rout in the Bihar assembly elections, sources have told NDTV. While the timing of this is yet to be decided, chances are that it will be held after the winter session of Parliament since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's calendar is packed till then, they said.
PM Modi is likely to drop ministers who have failed to perform, the sources said. He and BJP chief Amit Shah are also expected to take a decision on the ministers who worked the communal lines which created trouble for the party. The two are expected to decide whether these ministers could be dropped to silence the opposition ahead of the winter session.
At least five key ministers have been camping out in Bihar ahead of the assembly elections while their departments battled crises. They include food minister Ram Vilas Paswan and agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh amid the galloping dal crisis.
Union communications minister Ravi Shankar Prasad too, has spent considerable time in Bihar, when the Prime Minister had said the issue of call drops should have been made a priority by his ministry.
Overall, 30-odd NDA ministers campaigned in Bihar polls and 11 were in the state to oversee the campaign. The others included health minister JP Nadda, fertiliser minister Ananth Kumar, petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan and others. "The assessment of a minister could involve both performance in the ministry and the Bihar election" a BJP leader said.
Though the BJP has denied that the Bihar verdict has been a referendum on PM Modi's stewardship over the last 18 months, it has been viewed as such by many. The government now wants the reshuffle to be seen as a course correction as well, the sources said.
Ministers like Mahesh Sharma, VK Singh, Giriraj Kishore and others have caused tremendous embarrassment to the government with their remarks on the Dadri killing, the killing of Dalits in Haryana and the beef controversy -- which occupied public discourse during the Bihar elections.
PM Modi was also said to be "angry" with the leaders and ministers and they were pulled up party chief Amit Shah.
But sources in the government said the Prime Minister would like to set the tone with some tough action to counter the charge that he has been largely silent on the inflammatory statements that not only vitiated the political atmosphere but also damaged the party's fortunes in an election.