The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday welcomed the expansion of the Union Cabinet, adding that the party had made an attempt to include all its allies in the council of ministers.
"Due representation has been given to all the areas of this country keeping in view Prime Minister Modi's motto of 'sabka saath, sabka vikas'. The BJP welcomes the step taken by the Central government," party spokesperson Sambit Patra told ANI.
"An attempt has been made to give proportionate representation to the allies. A member of the Telegu Desam Party (TDP) has been inducted. The Shiv Sena too was offered one or two berths in the Union Council. The BJP wants to make a fair representation of all the parties," BJP spokesperson GVL Narsimha Rao added.
Patra further said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had named candidates to the Cabinet based on performance, adding that the expansion of the Cabinet reflected the Prime Minister's desire to take the country forward.
"The new Cabinet that the government has formed today at the Centre is based on performance. Most of the people who have been inducted are people who have performed in the past in a historical way. Prime Minister Modi's only aim is to take the country forward and that has been reflected in the expansion of the Cabinet," he said.
Speaking on the issue related to the Shiv Sena boycotting the swearing-in ceremony, Rao said that the party supremo Uddhav Thackeray was attempting to link the Maharashtra assembly polls to the Centre.
"The Shiv Sena is trying to link its participation in the Union government with the state government of Maharashtra. These two are quite unrelated," he said.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inducted Four Cabinet Ministers, three Ministers of State (Independent Charge) and 14 Ministers of State in his first Cabinet expansion since assuming power in May this year.
