Shah for Rajya Sabha generates speculation about reshuffle in cabinet, party

NEW DELHI: In a surprise move indicative perhaps of the BJP’s future plans for the party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s council of ministers, the party on Wednesday decided to bring president Amit Shah to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with BJP chief Amit Shah. File photo

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 26

In a surprise move indicative perhaps of the BJP’s future plans for the party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s council of ministers, the party on Wednesday decided to bring president Amit Shah to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat.

The BJP Parliamentary Board, which also took a call on the party’s course for Bihar, decided to nominate Shah and Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani for the forthcoming Rajya Sabha election from Gujarat, confirmed general secretary and Union Minister JP Nadda.

Irani was recently given the charge of the Information and Broadcasting Minister after the resignation of Venkaiah Naidu, who was nominated as the NDA’s vice presidential candidate. So while Irani holds the dual charge of the I&B along with textiles, senior leader Arun Jaitley also is in charge of two major portfolios-Finance and Defence.

Shah’s nomination is being seen in context of the long-overdue cabinet reshuffle, believe political observers, and perhaps also a change in the BJP in the months to follow.

Fifty-two-year-old Shah, currently an MLA from Gujarat’s Naranpura constituency, has repeatedly dismissed the possibility of him becoming a minister at the Centre, saying he was happy in his role as the party man.

But the latest development has resulted in sufficient speculation about the possibility of Shah joining Modi’s Council of Ministers. Otherwise, there is no reason for him to make a debut in Parliament at this stage, argue observers.

Terms of nine Rajya Sabha members from Gujarat and West Bengal is coming to an end on August 18. They include Irani, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury and Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’ Brien.

Among the nine retiring members, four are from the Trinamool Congress, two from the Congress, two from the BJP and one from the CPM. The tenure of Ahmed Patel of the Congress and Dilipbhai Pandya of the BJP (both from Gujarat) comes to an end on August 18.