Speculation on Cabinet rejig as BJP looks for UP, U’khand CMs

NEW DELHI:The sudden transfer of Manohar Parrikar to Goa and Arun Jaitley holding additional charge of the Defence Ministry resulted in a string of speculation on who all could be in or out at the Centre, even as the BJP leadership got down to the task of selecting new Chief Ministers in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

KV Prasad

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 16

The sudden transfer of Manohar Parrikar to Goa and Arun Jaitley holding additional charge of the Defence Ministry resulted in a string of speculation on who all could be in or out at the Centre, even as the BJP leadership got down to the task of selecting new Chief Ministers in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Given the nature of mandate in both states, the BJP leadership — PM Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah — is working on getting a leader in place for UP, where the newly-elected BJP legislature party is scheduled to meet at 5 pm on Saturday.

The party also scheduled the Uttarakhand legislature party meeting at 3 pm on Friday and the swearing-in of the new CM is slated for the next day, party sources said here. The names of Prakash Rawat, Trivender Singh Rawat and Satpal Maharaj are doing the rounds.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

The speculation of Home Minister Rajnath Singh as the possible leader in UP, which gained ground earlier, receded amid a strong statement from the former UP Chief Minister about his preference to stay at the Centre. The pre-poll talk of the possibility of the task being given to Union Minister Manoj Sinha, who represents Ghazipur in the Lok Sabha, continues to re-surface amid other names, including that of BJP state chief Keshav Prasad Maurya, who was admitted to a hospital today following health issues.

However, since both are from the Lok Sabha and eastern UP, the party also needs to maintain a balance since it won seats from other parts, including Western UP.

Meanwhile, reports of Rajnath being shifted triggered a speculation in the corridors of power with some suggesting Jaitley may be given the charge and the Finance portfolio may go to Power Minister Piyush Goyal.

Another string in the series was that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis might be shifted to Delhi as the new Defence Minister with Chandrakant Patil taking his place. However, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari ruled it out in Panaji, squashing reports about a change of guard in Maharashtra. For the PM, while the Defence portfolio would have to be filled up soon, it remains to be seen whether the decision is taken during the Budget session of Parliament that ends on April 12 or in the last week of May, when his government completes three years in office.