New Delhi: With the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi keeping all cards close to his chest on ministry formation if the NDA comes to power, party leaders yesterday publicly said there was only media speculation on the issue. Yet names of possible cabinet ministers kept doing the rounds in the expectation of a Modi government by next week if the exit poll predictions get confirmed today.
BJP sources said they were not certain about who and how many leaders will be part of the Modi government if the NDA comes to power. The names doing the rounds in the BJP’s inside circles include top leaders like Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Shahnawaz Hussain, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, B C Khanduri, B S Yeddyurappa, Ananth Kumar, Kalraj Misra and Shanta Kumar.
Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, who has been opposing Modi within the party forum and had to make way for Modi for the Varanasi seat, could be accommodated as deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, a source privy to some of the thinking, said. A senior party leader said: “Modi ji’s cabinet is difficult to predict. Things will be as never before.” Top party sources said that BJP candidate for the Amethi Lok Sabha seat, Smriti Irani, could be inducted as a minister even if she loses to Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi.
There is a strong feeling that senior leader Arun Jaitley, who is considered close to Modi and has been one of the earliest champions of his prime ministership, could get the finance ministry, considering the importance Modi intends to give to fixing the economy.
Other names being speculated about were that of leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha Sushma Swaraj for the external affairs ministry and BJP president Rajnath Singh for defence.
Regarding the crucial home ministry, it is being said that Modi would like to keep the portfolio himself. Amit Shah could join the Prime Minister’s Office and control the home ministry from there, though everything remains in the realm of party speculation as Modi is unlikely to have shared his thinking with many people other than a few people close to him like Jaitley and Rajnath Singh.
However, a party leader from Gujarat said there may be more technocrats involved in decision making in the Modi government. Officially, the decisions on ministry formation will be taken by the BJP parliamentary board on May 17 if the party is set to form the government. Where Modi would perhaps face some tricky situations is in accommodating senior leaders Sushma Swaraj, Joshi and even L K Advani. IANS
