From Our Burea
NEW DELHI: The exercise being undertaken by Prime Minister Modi in the cabinet and party reshuffle on Monday is to showcase the strength of the allies to counter the opposition parties joining hands to take on his government in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The BJP sources said a meeting of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is expected to follow to highlight its growing strength and to dispel the impression from departure of some of its oldest allies like Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, Shiromani Akali Dal and Janata Dal (U).
Any reshuffle of the Union Cabinet, the buzz around which has grown, is likely to feature the allies the BJP has acquired of late.
As of now, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Council of Ministers has three members from allies as ministers. While RLJP’s Pashupati Kumar Paras is the lone Cabinet members, Apna Dal’s Anupriya Patel and RPI’s Ramdas Athawale are ministers of state.
The BJP had recently got signatures of the leaders of 13 parties in a statement criticising the Congress and other opposition parties for their boycott of the inauguration of the new building of Parliament.