Narendra Modi to lead the first Council of Ministers of the year today— cabinet expansion may be on the cards

• India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host the year’s first Council of Ministers today evening in the national capital.
  
• Allies of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) are hoping that Modi will expand his cabinet to accommodate ‘respectable’ representation.
  
• The council will also have to address the issues of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the economic slowdown.
  

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to kick off the new year with his first Council of Ministers today evening. Not only is it the first meeting of the year, but it may also be important with rumours of Modi wanting to reshuffle and expand his cabinet.

Times Now reports that Modi will be returning to Delhi to hold the Council of Ministers at 5:30 pm today after returning from the Indian Science Congress (ISC) in Karnataka.

Allies of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — like Shiv Sena and the Janata Dal — have been asking for ‘respectable’ representation sources told Business Standard.

That’s not surprising since there are currently 72 ministers on Modis’ Council of Ministers — not one from BJP’s allies. Slots are still up for grabs since the council can accommodate a total of 81 ministers, excluding Modi — 15% of the total number of members in the lower house of Parliament, the Lok Sabha.

Addressing the issues

While the political elements may be more interested in getting a seat at the table, there are other pressing issues on the docket as well. Multiple reports of clashes between protestors and the authorities have been coming in over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

In addition, the global economic slowdown has the Indian economy on the edge. India’s ‘growth rate’ which did not translate into jobs was recently called out by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Modi held the last Council of Ministers on the 21 December, four days before Christmas. Today’s council will the first major hurdle of 2020.

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