(This piece has been republished from The Quint’s archives in light of Prime Minister Modi including nine new ministers in his cabinet on 2 September, 2017. It was originally published on 26 July, 2017)
The Narendra Modi government is likely to go for a third – and possibly final – Cabinet reshuffle in the second week of September.
A total of 45 ministers took oath when the Modi government came to power in the summer of 2014.
The Cabinet has already witnessed two rejigs – one in November 2014 and the second in July 2016. The third one, scheduled for next month, is said to be the last major reshuffle before the 2019 general elections. After this, the sole focus will be on electoral preparations in 2018, which means the ministers in-charge of the new departments will have less than a year’s time to prove their prowess.