11 ministers of Modi Cabinet may be dropped !
"They keep me like valuables, protecting me from the evil eyes of the nones.
What has gone out in the sun, I have returned the wrinkle of light with me'
New Delhi: As the Narendra Modi government completes one year of its third term on June 9, there are murmurs of a major reshuffle in the Union Cabinet. Reliable sources claim that at least 11 Union ministers may be shown the door and a dozen new faces may be replaced in the cabinet. Many of the ministers who are in danger of being removed have a report card for one year of their performance, decision-making ability, proper coordination with the bureaucracy and feedback from the public and party cadre. Many important ministers like petroleum, law and justice, foreign affairs can also be affected. There are also indications that PM Modi wants to reduce his dependence on the crutches of TDP-JDU, in this context, he has also met Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar in the past. One of the country's top industrialists, considered close to the power of the Centre, is in touch with Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray and there is a constant possibility that before the BMC elections, the two factions of Shiv Sena i.e. Uddhav and Shinde can come together again. Because the BJP's own internal survey has revealed the fact that without Uddhav Thackeray, it will not be easy for the ruling coalition to win the Greater Mumbai Municipal Corporation elections. Modi is likely to make a major reshuffle in his cabinet anytime by the end of July. In the list of probable ministers, the names of Supriya Sule from NCP (Sharad) quota are doing the rounds, while the names of Jitendra Awad and Jayant Patil as ministers of state are doing the rounds. If Uddhav joins hands with the Modi-BJP, then his son Aaditya Thackeray can also get an important responsibility in the Union Cabinet.Shashi Tharoor can be awarded an important ministry like External Affairs. In the light of the upcoming Bihar assembly elections, Ravi Shankar Prasad may also be held again.
Why did Mahua's wedding get pre-poned: Readers of this column will surely be aware of the fact that the news of the marriage of Trinamool's fire brand leader Mahua Moitra was first published in 'Mirch Masala'. It was told that Mahua is getting married to an old lawyer friend in Denmark on June 20, but when this news became so viral, Pinaki and Mahua decided to pre-pon, first Belgium was chosen instead of Germany, then it was shifted to Germany. On June 5, Mahua and Pinaki Mishra got married. Sources close to the newlyweds revealed that since a large number of Supreme Court judges and senior lawyers usually leave for Europe after June 15, the couple would have to make a long guest list. Both wanted this marriage to take place among a few people of the family. So, only a very few people joined in. Like Mahua's sister and brother-in-law living in London, some of her special friends, Mahua's political enemies also sent her congratulatory messages, bouquets and gifts.
Can there be a split in Punjab? Can the Aam Aadmi Party, which is facing the brunt of the split in Delhi, suffer a major setback in Punjab too? At present, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal is camping in Punjab, his eyes are also fixed on the Ludhiana by-election. His party's candidate and Rajya Sabha member Sanjeev Arora is in the fray from here. It is being speculated that Kejriwal will get Arora elected as MLA from here and make him a minister in the Mann government and will himself be elected to the Rajya Sabha seat vacated by him, but if sources are to be believed, the central leadership of the BJP does not want Kejriwal to come to the Upper House and put his nose in his nose. The saffron party is also believed to be helping Congress candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu from Ludhiana who is a former Congress minister who is contesting the election strongly. The Congress top has entrusted the task of winning Ashu from here to former state chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, who has also set up his tent in Ludhiana in a way. Now there is a lot of talk that if Khuda Na Khasta AAP loses its Ludhiana seat here, then after that a big split can be seen in the party, if sources are to be believed, in those circumstances, 60 to 70 MLAs of AAP can break away and announce the formation of a new party. The Congress is also likely to extend its support to the new party to form the government. It is believed that the BJP is also fueling this campaign from within.
New BJP president by the end of July?: Amidst all the speculations, there is a new stir in the political background that the new national president of the BJP will be elected by the end of July. At present, the suspense over this name still remains or it can be said that there is no consensus between the BJP and the RSS leadership about the new president. The names which are still being discussed are Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Manohar Lal Khattar, Arun Singh, Bhupender Yadav and Dharmendra Pradhan. Sources claim that Rajnath Singh has already withdrawn his name from the presidential candidature. Only after his withdrawal of his name, the name of his brother-in-law Arun Singh was included in the race. Arun Singh is a darling of both the RSS and the BJP and believes in working behind the scenes. Anyway, before the announcement of the name of the national president, the names of the state presidents of Delhi, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra are to be announced. At present, Ravindra Chavan is the working president of the BJP in Maharashtra, speculation is being made that Chavan can be declared the state president of Maharashtra. Till now, Manohar Lal Khattar was considered to be the frontrunner in the race for the national president of the BJP, Khattar has also worked as a campaigner in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu and he is one of PM Modi's old friends. But it is believed that this time the 'veto' of the union is going to be the most important in the election of the new president.
What is this raga that Chirag is singing? Chirag Paswan is drowning in the vortex of political uncertainty these days, the biggest reason for this is that he is not getting a clear indication from the BJP that what to do if he does. So, he was forced to go to Nitish Kumar's house to meet him, seek his blessings and tell him why he wanted to contest the Bihar assembly elections this time. Nitish was sitting surrounded by his two special bureaucrats at that time, Nitish said to Chirag – 'Your father never paid attention to the local politics of Bihar, kept doing the politics of the center, then why are you hitting the head here? You have become a cabinet minister at such a young age, take care of your father's legacy. The words of Nitish and his two bureaucrat colleagues only disappointed Chirag. So, after this, he went to meet Lalan Singh and told him that this time he wants to contest at least 50 assembly seats. Lallan then told him that at the moment both JDU and BJP together intend to leave only 20 seats for his party, 10 from JDU quota and 10 from BJP quota. Disappointed by this, Chirag then came in contact with PK and he has almost made up his mind that 'on the lines of the 2020 Bihar elections, he will field his candidates in as many seats as possible with Prashant Kishor so that once again the path of JDU will be difficult. ’
Nitish on PK's target: Prashant Kishor's 'Udghosh Yatra' continues, but in the Bihar elections, he has also announced his strategies in a way. According to sources associated with PK, PK does not want to target those seats where the BJP is fighting strongly, but PK is focusing on those seats where JDU has established its foothold well. In the seats where JDU's Muslim candidate will be seen in a strong position, PK will also field its strong Muslim candidate here. While most of the political parties in Bihar are gearing up around Dalit, Muslim and backward voters, PK's Jan Suraj Party is focusing on the state's forward voters. Nitish has also intensified the politics of targeting the forward voters of the state, where he has made Mahachandra Prasad Singh the head of the Savarna Commission, while Chirag Paswan's brother-in-law and Jitan Ram Manjhi's son-in-law have been given important responsibilities in the Bihar State Scheduled Commission to reach out to Dalit and Mahadalit voters.
... And finally: whenever Nitish's health is fine, he starts worrying about his core vote bank. When he was convinced that his support to the Modi government on the Waqf bill had caused a rift in his Muslim vote bank, he immediately joined the 'damage control' campaign. When Nitish received reports that his support on the Waqf Board had led to the loss of the vote bank of his Pasmanda Muslims, he immediately made Ghulam Rasool Balyawi, an old leader of his party, the head of the Bihar State Minority Board with immediate effect so that he could persuade the Muslims who were angry with the JDU and bring them back to their fold. While Balyawi has always openly opposed the Waqf bill.