PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held deliberations with Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President J P Nadda amid speculation about a reshuffle in the Union Cabinet, an exercise Modi has not undertaken since forming the Government for a second time in May 2019.

There is also a growing buzz about the Cabinet expansion in Uttar Pradesh after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath met the BJP top brass during his two-day visit to the national capital.

The deliberations among the top BJP leaders at the Prime Minister’s residence came a day after Shah also met party allies from Uttar Pradesh, including Apna Dal’s Anupriya Patel who was a minister in the first Modi Government but was not inducted in the next.

There has been no official word from the party on these deliberations. The BJP has of late engaged in the review of its organisation and Government works in different States.

Nadda had also held a meeting with party General Secretaries where, besides the relief work carried out by the party during the COVID-19 pandemic, its performance in the recent Assembly polls were reviewed.

With the party now gearing up for the next round of Assembly polls in five States early next year, including in all important Uttar Pradesh, it is expected to take various measures to bolster its social equation.

PM meeting ministers to take stock of work done by them in last 2 years

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi has been holding in-person meetings with Union Ministers in different groups apparently to take stock of the work done by them in past two years, sources said on Friday.

Three such meetings have been held so far at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, the official residence of the Prime Minister, which was also attended by BJP President J P Nadda.

Almost all meetings lasted for more than five hours, the sources said.

These meetings were called after the second wave of COVID-19. A presentation was also given by several ministers, the sources said.

So far, ministers -- both Cabinet and their deputies -- holding the charge of agriculture, rural development, animal husbandry and fishing, tribal affairs, urban development, culture, statistics and programme implementation, civil aviation, railways, food and consumer affairs, jal shakti, petroleum, steel and environment were among those who were called for the meetings, they said.

These meetings are expected to continue for several days, the sources added.

The Cabinet meeting, which is chaired by the Prime Minister, is usually held once a week and that of the Council of Ministers once a month. The Cabinet meeting is being held virtually every Wednesday.

These meetings with the Union ministers were preceded by similar meetings that Modi held with the Presidents of various wings of the BJP and with the party General Secretaries. Both meetings lasted for more than four hours.

Nadda and BJP General Secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh were also present at the Prime Minister’s meetings with the party office-bearers.