PM Modi's first Cabinet expansion today, 20 new ministers likely to take oath

New Delhi: Barring a last-minute hitch with the Shiv Sena, the stage is set for the first expansion of the Union Council of Ministers on Sunday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

About 20 new members are likely to take oath as ministers on Sunday, including the likes of Mr Manohar Parrikar (who has resigned as Goa CM), BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and BJP MP from Secunderabad Bandaru Dattatreya, among others.

The delay in firming up an arrangement for the Shiv Sena to join the Maharashtra Council of Ministers appears to have made uncertain the likelihood of party nominee Anil Desai, a Rajya Sabha MP, joining the Cabinet.

Union minister Anant Geete, a Shiv Sena leader, was tipped to meet the PM on Saturday but could not keep the appointment, apparently on the instructions of Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, sources said.  Sunday’s swearing-in will take place at 1.30 pm at Rashtrapati Bhavan

Mr Parrikar is a certainty in Sunday’s expansion and it is widely speculated that he will get the defence portfolio. The forthcoming Assembly elections in Bihar (2015) and West Bengal (2016) are also likely to have influenced the PM’s choices regarding whom to induct into his ministry.

Bihar MPs Giriraj Singh (Bhumihar) and Ramkripal Yadav have reportedly been invited to the swearing-in, while there is talk of one more state leader finding a place in the Union Council of Ministers.

Speculation is rife that former Union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy, too, could get a Cabinet berth. Similarly, playing for high stakes in West Bengal, the BJP appears to have picked rookie party MP from Asansol Babul Supriyo, who made a name for himself as a singer, to debut in the Union Council of Ministers. From the ranks of NDA allies, TDP has named Y.S. Chowdhary.

The PM is also hosting a breakfast for new members of his Council of Ministers on Sunday.

Mr Vijay Sampla, a dalit and first-time LS MP from Hoshiarpur in Punjab, Col. Sonaram Chaudhary and Mr G.S. Shekhawat from Rajasthan, Mr J.P. Nadda (Himachal Pradesh), Mr Ajay Tamta (Uttarak-hand), Mr Jayant Sinha (Jharkhand), Mr Birender Singh, a Jat leader from Haryana, Mr Hansraj Ahir from Maharashtra and Mr Ramesh Bais from Chhattisgarh are also likely to find ministerial berths.

There is also a likelihood of a few ministers being dropped, with sources saying the PM would like to send the message that his mantra of “perform or perish” is real.

The current strength of the Council of Ministers is 45 23 of Cabinet rank, including the PM, and 22 MoS.

There were reports even before the names of the new ministers are officially made public of celebrations in some quarters, including in Goa House in New Delhi where Mr Parrikar is reportedly being introduced as “defence minister-designate” and of people celebrating at the Hyderabad residence of Mr Dattatreya.