PM, Shah meet to give final shape to ministry, selected ministers to meet Modi at his home
New Delhi: Ministers selected for oath of office will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence at 4.30 on Thursday, shortly before the swearing-in ceremony, sources said.
Earlier in the morning, the prime minister held a final round of consultations with BJP president Amit Shah to give shape to his council of ministers before sending the list to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Capping a landslide election victory, Modi will take oath along with his new council of ministers at 7 pm.
As the party geared up for the celebrations, Shah's Akbar Road residence was decked up. BJP general secretary (organisation) Ram Lal was among those who met Shah at his residence.
Modi and Shah have held several rounds of discussions in the last two days ahead of government formation.
Shah, the architect of BJP's victory of 303 seats in the Lok Sabha, is believed to be among those who will join the Modi cabinet and is tipped to get either Home or Finance, sources said.
Other senior party leaders such as Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal, Narendra Singh Tomar, Prakash Javadekar, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Dharmendra Pradhan and Smriti Irani are also likely to join the second Modi government after being its members in its first avatar.
The others tipped to get a ministerial berth include Sadananda Gowda, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Jayant Sinha, Giriraj Singh, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Thawarchand Gehlot, Dilip Ghosh, Jitendra Singh and Purshottam Rupala.
Among some of the new faces that are likely to be inducted include Prahlad Patel from Madhya Pradesh, Kailash Chowdhry from Rajasthan, Krishna Reddy from Telangana and Suresh Angedi from Karnataka and Raosaheb Danve from Maharashtra.
Sources said Modi government 2.0 is likely to showcase the party's newfound strength in different regions.
BJP allies like Shiv Sena, JD(U), AIADMK, LJP, Akali Dal and Apna Dal are set to be represented in the government. Each NDA ally is likely to get one cabinet berth, sources said.
The Shiv Sena has confirmed its leader Arvind Sawant, who defeated Congress heavyweight Milind Deora from Mumbai, will be its nominee in the council of ministers.
Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Badal, who was Food Processing minister in the earlier government, will be in the new council of ministers as well, sources said.
The Lok Janshakti Party has already passed a resolution recommending its president Ram Vilas Paswan as the party's representative in the Modi government.
The Apna Dal's Anupriya Patel is likely to be in the council of ministers. The JD-U is likely to nominate either Ram Nath Thakur or Santosh Kushwaha, sources said.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's decision to opt out on health grounds has fuelled speculation about who will get his coveted portfolio. Railway Minister Goyal, who filled in for Jaitley and presented the populist pre-election budget, is being seen as a key contender.
The BJP has refrained from making any official comment about the likely members of the government, with its leaders asserting that it is the prime minister's prerogative.
The swearing-in ceremony in the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan is expected to be grand affair with about 8,000 guests, including leaders from the BIMSTEC countries, opposition leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, chief ministers, corporate honchos and film stars, watching as President Ram Nath Kovind administers the oath of office and secrecy to 68-year-old Modi and his ministerial colleagues.
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Sujit Nair raises concerns over speculation of DMK-AIADMK understanding to block TVK
Chennai: Journalist and political commentator Sujit Nair has expressed concern over speculation that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam could explore a post-poll understanding to prevent Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam from forming the government in Tamil Nadu.
In a social media post, Sujit Nair said the election verdict in Tamil Nadu reflected a clear public demand for political change and argued that the mandate should be respected irrespective of political preferences.
Referring to reports and political discussions surrounding a possible understanding between the DMK and AIADMK, he said he hoped such developments remained only speculative conversations and did not turn into reality.
Nair stated that if such an alliance were to take shape, it would raise serious questions about ideological politics in the country. He said TVK had emerged through a democratic electoral process and that the legitimacy to govern in a parliamentary democracy comes from the people’s verdict.
According to him, attempts to prevent an electoral winner from forming the government through unexpected political arrangements may be constitutionally valid, but many people could view them as politically opportunistic.
He further said that such a move could particularly affect the political image of the DMK, which has historically projected itself around ideology, social justice and opposition politics. Nair said that in ideological terms, the DMK appeared closer to TVK than to the AIADMK, and joining hands with its long-time political rival only to remain in power could weaken its broader political narrative.
He added that the same questions would apply to the AIADMK as well, as the party had spent decades positioning itself against the DMK and such an arrangement could create discomfort among its cadre and supporters.
Drawing a comparison with Maharashtra politics in 2019, Nair said he had expressed similar views when the Shiv Sena formed an alliance with the Indian National Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party after the Assembly elections.
He said post-poll alliances between long-standing political rivals often create a public perception that ideology and electoral mandates become secondary when political power equations come into play.
Nair also said such developments increase public cynicism towards politics and reinforce the belief among voters that ideology is often sidelined after elections.
He maintained that the Tamil Nadu verdict was emphatic and said respecting both the spirit and substance of the mandate was important for the credibility of democratic politics.
