File photo of Manohar Parrikar (Left) meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Press Trust of India)
The BJP's parliamentary board, made up of the party's topmost leaders, is meeting in Delhi right now to give a go-ahead to the Cabinet expansion scheduled for Sunday afternoon.
Here's the latest developments in this story:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in his Lok Sabha constituency and is not attending the Parliamentary Board meeting.
The board is expected to discuss the shift of Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to the Centre. He is tipped to be the country's next Defence Minister.
Mr Parrikar will resign as Goa Chief Minister today after the Parliamentary Board meeting. His successor will be elected and sworn in this afternoon.
PM Modi's new ministers will be sworn in at the Durbar Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhavan in a ceremony expected to begin at 1.30 pm on Sunday, sources said.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Modi will meet all of those to be sworn in, over "tea and dhokla" and is expected to deliver a pep talk before they leave for Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The list of new ministers is expected to balance regional aspirations and electoral considerations. Also allies Shiv Sena and Telugu Desam Party are set to get more ministers, sources said.
Olympic Silver medalist Rajyawardhan Rathore is a hot contender to become minister. He won from Rajasthan in the national election; the state gave all 25 parliamentary seats to the BJP, but has only one central minister right now.
Also in the list of probable new ministers are Giriraj Singh and Ramkirpal Yadav of Bihar, which will vote for a new assembly next year. Both the BJP lawmakers represent powerful Bihar votebanks.
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, BJP spokesman for a long time and one of the party's most prominent Muslim faces, could also be made a minister, sources said.
Apart from new inductions, the Prime Minister is also expected to reshuffle portfolios, promote some ministers and could even axe a few based on a performance assessment.
Post a comment