PM Narendra Modi's cabinet expansion soon; Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sarbananda Sonowal among top contenders

PM Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet of ministers will be expanded with the addition of new members in a day or two, reports said on July 2.

The rejig, first of the PM Modi's second cabinet, is likely to factor in representation from the five poll-bound states and also the 2024 general election, the reports said.

The Union Cabinet can have 81 members. At the moment, there are 53 ministers. Hence there is a scope for adding 28 new faces in the cabinet.

Reports also said that nine ministers, who have additional portfolios, may be relieved of some ministries.

The new faces likely to make it to the Cabinet, according to the sources, include Jyotiraditya Scindia, who left the Congress last year ahead of regime change in Madhya Pradesh, and Sarbananda Sonowal, who was replaced by Himanta Biswa Sarma as Assam Chief Minister after the BJP won a second term in the northeastern state in May.

Among other leaders in the fray for a ministerial berth include former deputy chief minister of Bihar Sushil Modi, Maharashtra leader Narayan Rane and Bhupendra Yadav.

Sources said that the names have been shortlisted after a review of the ministers by the prime minister.

The expansion is likely to see a major representation from Uttar Pradesh, where assembly elections are scheduled next year. Varun Gandhi, Ramshankar Katheria, Anil Jain, Rita Bahuguna Joshi and Zafar Islam are the names doing rounds for inclusion in the cabinet, apart from Apna Dal's Anupriya Patel.

Other new names may include Ajay Bhatt and Anil Baluni from Uttarakhand and Pratap Simha from Karnataka.

Brijendra Singh from Haryana, Poonam Mahajan or Pritam Munde from Maharashtra, and Parvesh Varma or Meenakshi Lekhi from Delhi are other possibilities to be included in the Union Cabinet.