Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, JP Nadda to join the Narendra Modi Council of Ministers

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party National Vice-President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and General Secretary JP Nadda are two of the few others who will be sworn in as ministers in the Narendra Modi government on Sunday afternoon, sources close to them told IBNLive.com.

The expansion of Union Council of Ministers will take place at 1:30 pm in Rashtrapati Bhawan.

Both Naqvi and Nadda will either get Cabinet berth or will be made Minister of State (MoS) with independent charge. While Naqvi was an MoS in former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government, Nadda will take up a ministerial berth at the Centre for the very first time.

With Naqvi's inclusion, there will be two Muslim faces in Modi's government. Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptullah was inducted into the Cabinet when BJP-led NDA government came to power on May 26. She is a Rajya Sabha MP from Madhya Pradesh.

As far as Nadda is concerned, he is likely to get Environment and Forests Ministry, currently being held as a dual charge by Prakash Javadekar. The other charge of Information and Broadcasting Ministry is likely to remain with Javadekar.

Nadda is also a Rajya Sabha member but from his home State of Himachal Pradesh. He has the experience of handling the Environment and Forest Ministry in Himachal Pradesh and, therefore, he is being tipped for the same ministry at the Centre.

With Nadda's inclusion, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) National President Anurag Thakur's chances of getting into the Council of Ministers have diminished since both of them come from Himachal Pradesh. Nadda is also quite senior to Thakur, having held the post of BJYM national president two decades ago.

Besides Naqvi and Nadda, the others who are likely to be administered oath on Sunday are Hansraj Ahir, Giriraj Singh, Chaudhary Birendra Singh, Jayant Sinha, Ramkripal Yadav, Rajyavardhan Rathore, Sanwar Lal Jaat and Ramesh Bais.

Col. Sonaram Choudhary, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Ashwini Choubey and Suresh Prabhu (Shiv Sena) are a few other names that are being considered. Former Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar's inclusion has already been finalised. At least a dozen ministers are set to be inducted in Modi's government, said sources.