Overview
- Sources say the reshuffle is being finalised and expected before Parliament’s Monsoon Session, with talk intensifying after the prime minister returned from a three-day trip to Seychelles on Monday.
- The cabinet exercise will be coordinated with a BJP organisational revamp led by party president Nitin Nabin, and the party’s informal 'one person, one post' practice is likely to move some ministers into party roles.
- George Kurian has resigned after his Rajya Sabha term ended, creating a confirmed vacancy, while other ministers whose Upper House terms lapsed or who hold party posts are being positioned for exits or new duties.
- Several reports say Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s future is under question because of the NEET paper leak and CBSE digital-marking irregularities, and names such as Shaktikanta Das and Anurag Thakur are being discussed as possible entrants or portfolio changes.
- Officials and party sources caution that timing and legal limits will shape the final list because inductions of defecting MPs depend on the Lok Sabha Speaker’s anti-defection rulings and ministers can only serve a limited time without parliamentary membership.