New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi may soon reshuffle his Cabinet once again.
As per the reports, the Prime Minister is contemplating dropping Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptullah as he is said to be unhappy with her work performance.
Reports also indicate that Modi is considering inducting a leader from the Shiv Sena after the two parties rekindled alliance in Maharashtra last week. The Sena had last month boycotted the expansion of Modi-led Union Council of Ministers as the two had failed to reach an agreement on distribution of portfolios in Maharashtra.
Sources, however, said that BJP's Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, a prominent Muslim face of the BJP, may be given the additional charge of the Minority Affairs Ministry. Naqvi, the second Muslim in Modi's Cabinet, staged a comeback to the Union Council of Ministers 15 years after his stint as MoS Information and Broadcasting in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. Presently, Naqvi is Minister of State for Minority Affairs.
The Prime Minister, sources said, wants Najma's exit to be ‘honourable' and thus, she is likely to be made Governor of a state.
Highly placed sources in the government said that there are vacancies for the post of Governor in five states -- Punjab, Assam, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Najma, who will turn 75 early next year, is the senior most member of Modi's Cabinet. She was born on April 14, 1940.
It should also be noted that Modi had set up a cut-off age of 75 for ministers in his government so that the young minds and energetic leaders could be part of his team.
