Rajnath Singh finds place on 6 panels, Amit Shah is supreme

New Delhi: Confusion prevailed all through Thursday over defence minister Rajnath Singh’s inclusion in the crucial Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs. It was earlier being reported that Mr Singh was left out of the CCPA, but late Thursday night an official release clarified that the defence minister was included in all key Cabinet committees.

Sources close to the defence minister also strongly denied TV stories that Mr Singh was included in the CCPA only after he had threatened to resign. “Rajnathji does not indulge in such practices. He has always been dignified in his entire political career,” a source said. Other sources refuted TV reports that Mr Singh was “accommodated” only after the intervention of the RSS. Home minister Amit Shah is on all the panels that have been constituted.

Official sources said Mr Rajnath Singh will also now chair the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, of which Mr Modi is not a member, while Mr Shah is.

The Narendra Modi government has reconstituted six Cabinet committees and formed two new ones on jobs and investment, with Union home minister Amit Shah included in all of them.

The committees reconstituted included the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, the Cabinet Committee on Accommodation, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, Cabinet Committee on Security and the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs.

The two new ones are the Cabinet Committee on Investment and Growth and Cabinet Committee on Employment and Skill Development.

Earlier, there were reports that the defence minister' name was missing from the CCPA and the Employment and Skill Development and Investment and Growth panels. However, the official released made it clear that the defence minister's name figured in six committees, barring the Appointments Committee and the Committee