Aditi Tandon
New Delhi, January 20
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to chair a Union Council of Ministers meeting on January 29, ahead of the Budget Session commencing on January 31. Top sources said the Prime Minister was expected to lay out the contours of government plans for the future at the meeting, scheduled on the eve of the presentation of the last full Budget ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The meeting comes amid a buzz over a possible reshuffle of the Union Cabinet with an eye on the upcoming elections in nine states this year and the 2024 LS polls. It is being considered significant for its review of the ministries’ performance and policy target setting for the future, the sources said.
The BJP is already in poll gear with the Prime Minister asking the party cadre to sit up and shun complacency with just about 400 days left for the General Election.
The Council of Ministers meeting is being viewed as especially crucial in the wake of the possibilities of a Cabinet revamp in the light of electoral exigences and the need to speed up implementation of government targets. Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s proposed Punjab visit on January 29 is all set to be deferred.
