New ministers are likely to be sworn in at noon on Sunday, November 9, in the first expansion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet, sources have said.
Here are the top developments
Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar will be PM Modi's new Defence Minister, sources said. "Got a call from (BJP President) Amit Shah indicating I will have to move to Delhi... Leaving Goa will be difficult. Portfolio allocation is PM's prerogative, chief minister's name is in discussion," Mr Parrikar told NDTV this evening.
The Prime Minister reportedly wants a new Defence Minister so that Arun Jaitley - who has charge of two critical portfolios Finance and Defence - can focus on the government's first Budget, to be presented next February.
The Finance Ministry could also get a new minister of state to assist Mr Jaitley and the name of Jayant Sinha is doing the rounds. Jayant Sinha is the son of former finance minister Yashwant Sinha and also belongs to Jharkhand, where elections are due next month.
Young BJP leader Anurag Thakur is also being talked about as a likely new minster. Anil Desai of the Shiv Sena could be inducted as a second minister from that party as part of the BJP-Sena negotiations in Maharashtra, sources said.
There could be some promotions. Commerce Minister Nirmala Sithraman, who is minister of state with independent charge could be elevated to Cabinet rank and might give up her additional charge of the finance ministry. Similarly Prakash Javadekar could be elevated to Cabinet rank and might give up one of his two ministries - Information and Broadcasting or Environment, sources said.
There could also be redistribution of ministries to relieve senior ministers who juggle multiple portfolios like Nitin Gadkari - Transport and Rural Development - and Ravi Shankar Prasad - Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and Ministry of Law and Justice.
There has reportedly been a performance based assessment of ministers and at least two, said sources, could get the axe on account of a poor showing.
Confirmation on record that an expansion is on the cards came at the World Economic Forum's India Summit, where Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu - whose Telugu Desam Party is a BJP ally and participates in the central government - said details would be known "in a couple of days." The TDP is expected to get another ministry.
The government has unofficially conveyed to the President that there will an oath ceremony for new ministers on Sunday, sources said. An official intimation is expected by Saturday.
PM Modi took oath in May this year with a slim team of 45 ministers; this will be the first cabinet expansion. There are currently 22 cabinet members and another 22 ministers of state, including 10 with independent charge.
