NEWS

Some ministers in the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan may be dropped in the impending cabinet reshuffle and given responsibility in the party organisation, AICC general secretary Ajay Maken indicated on Friday.

Maken, while talking to media here after the executive committee meeting of the party, said a few ministers had expressed desire to work for the organisation during his one on-one meeting with them. He thanked them and said he had himself opted out of the ministry in 2013 to work for the party.

On Wednesday and Thursday, Maken had held one-on-one meetings with 115 party MLAs and some Independent MLAs supporting the government before convening the executive committee meeting.

Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga has assured that there will be “no restrictions” and “no harm” to non-Mizos entering the state. However, the CM’s assurance on Friday — a day after the Assam government issued a travel advisory to its residents against travelling to Mizoram — coupled with his reiteration from his Twitter handle that “NorthEast India Will Always Be One” came even as his government refused to withdraw its armed policemen deployed at Vairengte town on the outskirts of Cachar (Assam) border.

Mizoram’s insistence on deployment of its police force at the border, despite strong pressure from the Union home ministry during the talks held between the chief secretaries of the two neighbouring states in Delhi on Wednesday, continues to be a roadblock in putting the border areas under the central armed police force (CAPF).

2019 was the last time West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had visited Delhi. Two years later when Mamata Banerjee came to Delhi, she stayed in the national capital for four days and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal and DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi.

She connected with Nationalist Congress Party's Sharad Pawar over a phone call and held a rather long press conference. While Mamata was actively moving around in Delhi, one person was also operating in the background — poll strategist Prashant Kishor — to advice and guide her. Mamata was also accompanied by her nephew and National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee, which was another interesting thing to see.

With the 2023 assembly elections in focus, the new Karnataka chief minister, Basavaraj Bommai, is likely to opt for five deputy chief ministers and induct six to eight young new faces in his cabinet which can have a maximum of 34 members.

Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy was the first in the country to have a jumbo team of five deputy CMs in 2019.

A senior BJP functionary privy to discussions on cabinet formation said deputy CMs will be selected from five major social groups — SCs, STs, Vokkaligas, Lingayats and the OBCs. According to him, the party of Lingayats-Brahmins will soon have a pan-Hindu appeal catering to all communities since it has been struggling to cross the magic figure of 113 seats in the assembly polls since 2008.