Parrikar meets Modi, Shah amid reshuffle talks

Amid media reports that Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar was in Delhi and had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah, speculation gained ground that a Cabinet reshuffle might be held on Sunday.

President Pranab Mukherjee will go to Bhutan on a state visit on Friday and will return on Saturday evening. So far, he has no official engagement on Sunday.

In his brief interactions with the media on two-three occasions, the Goa chief minister did not deny suggestions that he was being tipped to be the defence minister. I cannot comment. Let the prime minister, who has invited me, comment, he said when asked about the media speculation after his meeting with Shah.

However, after his meeting with Modi, he told reporters they only discussed Goa issues and there was no talk on his induction in the Union Cabinet. We have not discussed anything about that. So, as of now the issue is dead, he said.

As Parrikar is neither a member of the Lok Sabha nor the Rajya Sabha, he will have to seek a by-election. The BJP will have to find a replacement for him in Goa, where the party is heading a government. Deputy Chief Minister Francis DSouza could be a replacement, which will be a record of sorts for the party.

Others who hold dual charge are Prakash Javadekar (environment and information & broadcasting) and Ravi Shankar Prasad (law and communications and information technology). Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also has a clutch of portfolios, including minister of state for finance, though she has an independent charge despite being a first-time minister.

Rajasthan has only a nominal presence in the Cabinet and new victories in Haryana and Maharashtra will require representation from these two states as well. In anticipation of the Bihar elections in 2015 and Jharkhand and Delhi, there is a possibility these states could send representatives to the Cabinet as well.

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Parrikar meets Modi, Shah amid reshuffle talks