 "PM Modi to chair meeting with cabinet ministers amid talk of reshuffle")
Amid speculation of a possible cabinet reshuffle ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a meeting of the Union Cabinet on July 3, according to a report by The Times of India.The report quoted officials as saying that the meeting is likely to be held at the newly-built convention center at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi, which will host the G20 summit in September.
PM Modi had held in-depth discussions with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Jagat Prakash Nadda, and other key party leaders on Wednesday. Nadda's attendance at the meeting has sparked discussions about possible changes in the government and the BJP organisation, including at the state level, as the party prepares for important state elections later this year and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
State elections will take place in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, and Mizoram later this year. Nadda's attendance at the meeting has sparked discussions about possible changes in the government and the BJP organisation, including at the state level, as the party prepares for important state elections later this year and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
According to the report, Shah, Nadda and BJP Nation General Secretary (Organisation) B L Santosh have also held several rounds of deliberations on organisational and political issues since the past few days.
PM Modi’s meeting with the council of ministers will take place days before the Monsoon session of Parliament, which is likely to start in the third week of July. The Modi Cabinet has not undergone a major reshuffle in nearly two years. However, in May 2023, Kiren Rijiju was replaced as law minister by Arjun Ram Meghwal. The last major reshuffle took place in July 2021, when 12 ministers were axed and 17 new ministers were sworn in.
In the previous cabinet reshuffle, ministers such as Ravi Shankar Prasad, Harsh Vardhan, Prakash Javadekar, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, and Santosh Gangwar were dropped from the Modi government. On the other hand, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Narayan Rane, Sarbananda Sonowal, and Ashwini Vaishnaw were inducted into the cabinet.