BJP leaders, allies meet Modi ahead of swearing in

BJP leaders Manohar Lal Khattar, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Bandi Sanjay Kumar and Ravneet Singh Bittu may be among the new faces in the Union Council of Ministers which will be sworn in on Sunday evening (June 9) along with Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi.

Senior party leaders like Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal, Ashwini Vaishnaw and Mansukh Mandaviya are being seen as a certainty in the new government, sources said.

BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindia and MPs Jitin Prasada from Uttar Pradesh and Raksha Khadse from Maharashtra are also tipped to be part of the new government. Khadse confirmed to the media that she has received a call to be part of the government.

Many of them met Modi at his official residence.

A source said Nirmala Sitharaman, the outgoing finance minister, Sarbananda Sonowal and Kiren Rijiju, both outgoing ministers as well, will also be taking oath.

Allies like TDP's Ram Mohan Naidu and Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani and JD(U)'s Lalan Singh and Ram Nath Thakur besides Chirag Paswan, Jitan Ram Manjhi, H D Kumaraswamy and Jayant Chaudhary are being considered as ministers.

Bittu, the grandson of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, had lost the Lok Sabha election but may be inducted due to his profile and the BJP's continues bid to deepen its footprint in Punjab.

Bandi Sanjay Kumar and G Kishan Reddy, both elected from Telangana, were seen leaving together for Modi's residence and sources close to them said they may be inducted as ministers.

However, there has been no official comment on likely ministers.

While taking its ministerial picks, the BJP will have to factor in its shock losses in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra to recover its ground.

(With inputs from agencies)