Modi likely to expand cabinet

GANDHINAGAR - Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is likely to induct three to five new ministers in his cabinet, highly-placed sources said here Thursday.

According to sources close to Modi, the cabinet expansion is likely to take place Saturday.

He is reported to have sounded the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president R. Fardu about his move in the light of the increased workload on the existing ministers of the party’s government in the state.

Though an official announcement of the likely expansion is expected Friday, if it takes place this would be the first cabinet expansion since Modi assumed office for a third term after the December 2007 elections.

At present, he heads a 17-member cabinet with 10 cabinet-rank ministers, including himself, and seven ministers of state after two ministers of state, Mayaben Kodnani and Amit Shah, resigned following their arrest in criminal cases.

Kodnani, a minister of state for women’s welfare, quit after being arrested by the Supreme Court-appointed special investigation team in connection with the Naroda Gaam communal massacre of 2002.

Shah resigned July 25 just before he was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh staged shootout case.

Most of the ministers are holding multiple portfolios while the chief minister looks after more than 10 departments.