Modi's new Cabinet to be more diverse; India's 'youngest ever'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to reshuffle his Union Cabinet on Wednesday evening. Reportedly, the expanded Cabinet will be more diverse, with more representation from women and Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) communities. It has been reported that the Cabinet will also be the youngest ever in the history of India. This is notably the first Cabinet expansion in Modi's second term as PM.
The existing Cabinet will meet at 11 am on Wednesday to discuss the expansion. A final announcement is expected at 6 pm. The Cabinet rejig may see as many as 20 new ministers, sources told India Today. Some ministers may also lose their posts, they said. States scheduled to go to poll next year and the 2024 general elections will likely impact the decision.
Six BJP leaders will reportedly be sworn in as Cabinet ministers with Jyotiraditya Scindia, Narayan Rane, Sarbananda Sonowal as frontrunners. The BJP's ally, Janata Dal (United), is also expected to be represented in the Cabinet. Reportedly, Apna Dal and the faction of the Lok Janshakti Party led by Pashupati Paras (which ousted Chirag Paswan as party chief) may also get representation in the Cabinet.
The representation of women along with underprivileged and tribal communities will be increased, sources told CNN-News18. About 24 ministers will be from the Other Backward Classes (OBC). The Cabinet will see a record representation of SC communities, while the average education of members will be higher. The average age of leaders will reportedly be reduced, making it the youngest-ever Cabinet in India's history.
Earlier Tuesday, Modi's meeting with ministers and the BJP chief was canceled. However, eight new Governors were appointed: Bandaru Dattatreya (Haryana), Hari Babu Kambhampati (Mizoram), Mangubhai Chhaganbhai Patel (Madhya Pradesh), PS Sreedharan Pillai (Goa), Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar (Himachal Pradesh), Ramesh Bais (Jharkhand), Satyadev Narayan Arya (Tripura), and Thawar Chand Gehlot (Karnataka). There is now a record number of Governors from SC/ST communities.
A new 'Ministry of Co-operation' was announced late Tuesday to realize the vision of "Sahkar se Samriddhi" (prosperity through cooperation). "This ministry will provide a separate administrative, legal, and policy framework for strengthening the cooperative movement in the country," the Cabinet Secretariat said, adding that it will streamline processes for 'Ease of doing business' for co-operatives and enable the development of Multi-State Co-operatives (MSCS).
