BJP national president Amit Shah, who won the Gandhinagar seat with an overwhelming majority of over 5 lakh votes in the Lok Sabha polls, is all set to get a key portfolio in the new National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.
If the 54-year-old BJP chief joins Modi's council of ministers, he would be the second-in command. Shah, who was earlier the home minister in Gujarat, is likely to get the same portfolio at the Centre too. The BJP president has been a close aide of Narendra Modi since they started working in Gujarat as BJP activists in 1990s.
After the NDA stormed to power with a thumping victory in Lok Sabha polls on Thursday, the focus has now shifted on to who would get the key portfolios of finance, defence, home and external affairs.
The new Modi government’s first major policy decisions would be presented in its budget. However, it was not clear if Arun Jaitley would continue to hold the finance portfolio. Ill health had even prevented Jaitley from campaigning. If he opts out, then Piyush Goyal is likely to be picked up for the finance portfolio.
If Amit Shah gets the home ministry, then Rajnath Singh would have to be given another portfolio, such as the defence ministry.
Union minister Sushma Swaraj had refused to contest in the polls. However, Swaraj might continue to head the external affairs ministry. In order to ensure this, she would be made a Rajya Sabha MP. Three Rajya Sabha MPs—Amit Shah, Smriti Irani and Ravi Shankar Prasad—have been elected to the Lok Sabha. Swaraj could be given one of these three vacant RS seats.
Smriti Irani, who unseated Rahul Gandhi at Amethi in one of the most significant victories for the NDA, is now being dubbed as a 'giant killer'. Modi might reward her with a key portfolio for the upset victory. She might be even considered for the Lok Sabha speaker post.
Kummanam to be minister?
Five Union ministers were defeated in the Lok Sabha polls—Alphons Kannanthanam (Ernakulam), Hardeep Puri (Amritsar), Manoj Sinha (Ghazipur), Pon Radhakrishnan (Kanyakumari) and Anant Geete (Raigad). It was not known whether Kannanthanam would be considered again.
Though former Kerala BJP chief Kummanam Rajasekharan had lost to Congress leader Shashi Tharoor in Thiruvananthapuram, he might be made a minister.
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The NDA was able to win 39 of the 40 seats in Bihar. Therefore, Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (U) and Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti parties are likely to get more ministers.
This article originally appeared in onmanorama.
