Raipur: Chhattisgarh chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai is most likely to reshuffle and expand his ministry in the near future.
His meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah in Delhi a couple of days ago has fueled the speculations in the ruling BJP circle here that he would soon reshuffle and expand his ministry.
Sources in the chief minister’s office (CMO) said that Mr Sai held discussions with Mr Shah on various issues relating to the state including the ministry reshuffle.
“The issue of the ministry reshuffle has figured prominently in the meeting”, sources disclosed to this newspaper on Friday.
Sources said that Mr Sai may drop at least three ministers in his cabinet and induct at least five new faces in his ministry.
Sources said that a former minister is likely to be inducted in the state cabinet.
Two cabinet berths were vacant after Mr Sai formed his ministry.
The number of vacant berths increased to three when Brij Mohan Agrawal, who was a member of Sai cabinet, resigned from the house after being elected to Lok Sabha in the last polls.
“The proposed reshuffle and expansion of the Sai ministry may take into consideration the factors of regional balance and caste”, sources said.
Sources said that performances of some ministers were found to be not up to the expectations of the chief minister and hence, the axe may fall on them in the upcoming reshuffle and expansion of the state ministry.
Lobbying for a berth in the Sai ministry by several BJP MLAs have begun with the party leaders sparing no efforts to pull the right strings in the party for this.
Former minister Ajay Chandrakar is said to be prominent among the ministerial aspirants.
