Hyderabad: The timing of the much-discussed Union Cabinet reshuffle is said to be linked to the AIADMK joining the NDA camp. Sources said both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah have entrusted the job of wooing the ruling party in Tamil Nadu to a senior BJP functionary who holds a constitutional post.
The BJP wants to rope in the AIADMK so that the NDA would be stronger by the time the Lok Sabha elections come around in 2019. With the JD(U) deciding to fall in line last week, there is a need to accommodate a few of its MPs in the Union Cabinet.
Sources said reshuffling the Cabinet now, without the picture being clear on the AIADMK front, would not serve the purpose. Sources said the thinking in the highest levels of the party was that the three key issues of appointment of Governors, Cabinet reshuffle and reconstitution of BJP office-bearers were inter-linked.
Sources indicated that a major announcement over the AIADMK joining the NDA could be expected in the first week of August.
