PM Modi to chair Council of Ministers' meet tomorrow

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair a meeting of his Council of Ministers on Monday (July 3) amid the ongoing speculations about the possibilities of a Cabinet reshuffle.

The meeting is expected to be held at the newly built convention centre at Pragati Maidan in the national capital, which will host the G20 summit in September this year.

The political shift in Maharashtra on Sunday with Ajit Pawar jumping the ship from the Opposition ranks and joining the Eknath Shinde government along with some NCP MLAs, and a number of closed-door meetings involving Home Minister Amit Shah and party



president J P Nadda, have given impetus on the view that a Cabinet reshuffle is on the cards.

Former Union minister and senior NCP MP Praful Patel, who ditched his Sharad Pawar to join hands with his nephew, is being seen as a probable contender who is among the likely new ministers in the central government.

With the swearing-in of Ajit Pawar as a Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, raising the number of leaders holding the post to two, speculations are now rife that Devendra Fadnavis, the sitting Deputy Chief Minister, and a key leader for the party in the state, being shifted to the Centre.