As Prime Minister, Narendra Modi is likely to take most anticipated cabinet expansion, Media reports emanating from New Delhi suggesting Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar would be the country’s new Defence Minister have created ripples in the state. The summoning of Parrikar, state party president Vijay Tendulkar and organising secretary Satish Dhond to Delhi Wednesday for a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah has only lent credence to the rumour that Parrikar’s induction in the central cabinet is nearly certain.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley has been holding the defence portfolio as an additional charge since May 26, when the Modi administration assumed office. PM Modi has made a number of changes to the top echelons of his government in recent weeks, with a number of senior-level bureaucratic appointments. Suresh Prabhu, a former minister in the Vajpayee government, has moved to PMO, where he has oversight of policy issues in infrastructure sectors and areas such as mining.