Rakesh Mohan Chaturvedi, ET Bureau Jun 4, 2014, 04.43AM IST

(A leader fromMahamay)

NEW DELHI: With the death of rural development minister Gopinath Munde, PM Narendra Modi will have to look for a replacement for the senior Maharashtra leader from the Other Backward Classes besides naming a defence minister when he expands his cabinet in the third week of June.

"With Munde's untimely death, Modi will also have to find a rural development minister," a BJP leader said, adding that the two cabinet berths would have to go to senior leaders as both are key ministries.

Although Arun Jaitley has been entrusted with the defence ministry, along with the ministries of finance and corporate Affairs, the leader has indicated that this is a temporary arrangement and another leader is likely to get the job.

The expansion of the council of ministers and the process of choosing a new party president to succeed Rajnath Singh are likely to take place simultaneously around June 18-20, BJP leaders familiar with the matter said. Modi and his close associates want the Parliament session beginning on Thursday to end tentatively on June 12 before taking up the two issues, they said.

A leader from Maharashtra may be given Cabinet rank after the demise of Munde in order to keep the caste and regional balance intact in the council of ministers, a BJP leader said.

However, the leader added that the next rural development mini s t e r may not be f rom Maharashtra, where assemble polls are due later this year.

"Those whose names are doing the rounds for induction into the cabinet include SS Ahluwalia and Rajiv Pratap Rudy. The names of CP Thakur and Murli Manohar Joshi are also doing the rounds but they are above 75 years and may be ruled out," a party leader said.

While finalising the list of union ministers, Modi had made it clear that those MPs who are sons and daughters of BJP leaders as well as those who have crossed 75 years of age would not be considered.

Read the rest here:
Expansion of cabinet in 3rd week; SS Ahluwalia, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, CP Thakur & MM Joshi in the fray

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