Sadanand Gowda, Radha Mohan, Shripad Naik: Who is likely to lose out in the cabinet reshuffle?

Manohar Parrikar’s likely induction as the Defence Minister is not the only big news circulating in the corridors of power in Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi could spring some more surprises and one may be the Rail ministry. Sadanand Gowda could be removed from the Railways and shifted to some other ministry of lesser public importance.

BJP sources said Gowda couldn’t make the desired impact in the ministry. The high speed or Bullet Trains made news during Modi’s Japan visit but since then there has been total silence on the subject.

There is no clarity yet as to who will succeed him. Nitin Gadkari’s could be the probable replacement. The charge of Rural Development Ministry, which was given to him after unfortunate death of fellow Maharashtra leader Gopinath Munde, is to be divested from him. Will Gadkari be asked to preside over a super transport ministry, comprising of Highways, Shipping and Railways? While that fits in Modi’s ‘maximum governance, minimum government’ proposition, there is no confirmation.

Performance of two other ministers – Radha Mohan Singh and Shripad Naik (Mos-Independent Charge) — are under a cloud. Their performance in Agriculture and Tourism & Culture ministry, respectively have been below par, sources said.

After being in office for five months, Naik has not been seen as achieving much progress in implementing the Prime Minister vision of  developing tourism as a major contributor to the economy. There are however, some complications. Parrikar’s shift from Goa, is considered a big elevation and its impact on Naik’s fortunes — as a North Goa MP — remains to be seen.

Some Ministers who have been holding dual or triple charge are likely to be relieved off their additional burden. Prakash Javdekar could retain Information and Broadcasting ministry and be divested of Forest and Environment. But then he could be elevated from MoS Independent charge position to a full Cabinet rank. Nirmala Sitharaman may also get that elevation. Ravi Shankar Prasad may have to relinquish charge of Telecommunication and retain law.

States like Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh which have delivered 100 percent seats for BJP in Parliamentary elections would be hoping for representation. BJP Yuva Morcha President Anurag Thakur is one such hopeful. Last time, Thakur lost his chance because of the ‘one family, one post’ norm. Modi had denied Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje’s son Dushyant a Cabinet berth at the centre. Same principle was applied to Thakur. But there are many who argue that Hamirpur MP Thakur’s case is different as his father Prem Kumar Dhumal is no longer chief minister, and it has been over a year since he left his post.

The dominant Bhumihar community in Bihar could be appeased with likely induction of Giriraj Singh. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi who was left out last time is another hopeful. Naqvi had been a minister in Vajpayee government in 1998 and has been handling organisational work for a long time. Whether West Bengal and Jharkhand find representation is to be seen. Former minister Yashwant Sinha’s Harvard-educated son Jayant Sinha could get a MoS berth.

Haryana will have reasons to cheer. The state already has three ministers at centre and now Chaudhary Virendra Singh, a prominent Jat leader who joined BJP before assembly elections, looks all set to join the Modi government. His wife Premlata defeated OP Chauatala’s grandson Dushyant Chautala in assembly elections.

The ministerial aspirants have a tense three days ahead of them. It now looks highly likely that the Cabinet expansion will take place on Sunday after Modi’s returns from his two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency in Varanasi.