From CK Nayak
NEW DELHI: The name of Tura MP Conrad Sangma did not figure on the list of nine new ministers to be inducted into the Narendra Modi cabinet on Sunday.
There was speculation about the North East gaining from the major reshuffle but none of the leaders — Conrad, Neiphiu Rio and Himanta Biswa Sarma whose names were doing the rounds for a possible berth featured on the list.
When contacted on phone, Conrad said he was in Tura.
For the NPP president, it was history repeating itself as his father and founder of NPP, late PA Sangma, had faced similar situation after the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 when there was speculation that he would get a ministry.
Political observers had been expecting Conrad to get a berth in the run-up to the Assembly polls in the state. Rio’s name also cropped up for similar reason.
Earlier on Saturday, Assam Minister Sarma took to Twitter to quash speculation about his induction into the Cabinet.
The nine new members to be inducted in the Union council of ministers include four former senior bureaucrats and also BJP leaders from Karnataka, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, which go to polls in the near future. They are former IFS officer Hardeep Puri, ex-Mumbai Police chief Satyapal Singh, retired IAS officer and BJP leader Alphons Kannanthanam (Kerala), BJP MPs Ashwini Kumar Choubey (Bihar), Virendra Kumar (Madhya Pradesh) and Shiv Pratap Shukla (Uttar Pradesh). The others are Anant Kumar Hegde, Raj Kumar Singh and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
The process was set in motion for the swearing-in ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan around 10am on Sunday, official sources said.
Union ministers Kalraj Mishra, Bandaru Dattatreya, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Sanjiv Kumar Balyan, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahendra Nath Pandey resigned on Friday ahead of the rejig.
Uma Bharti too had offered to resign but her fate hangs in a balance amid speculations that there may be a few more exits.
BJP national president Amit Shah had met Modi on Friday and the two leaders finalised the changes in the council of ministers. Arun Jaitley, who currently holds the charge of two heavyweight portfolios, finance and defence, may retain only one, sources said.
Road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari, seen as one of the more capable ministers, can be given more responsibility.
But he is said to be reluctant to take additional portfolio of railways.
Railway minister Suresh Prabhu, who had taken moral responsibility for a series of train accidents recently and had indicated his willingness to resign, may be moved to another ministry, the sources said. Other incumbents, including steel minister Birender Singh, may be moved to other ministries.
. Power minister Piyush Goyal, petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan and telecom minister Manoj Sinha are seen among the “good performers” in the government, a party leader said, adding that some of them can be elevated.
There are also talks of a greater representation from existing allies like the TDP and the Shiv Sena. The current strength of the council of ministers, including the Prime Minister, is 73 and the maximum number of ministers cannot go beyond 81, which is 10 percent of combined strength of both the Houses of Parliament. (With inputs from Agencies)