Entry into cabinet based on good performance; representation of women and backward groups to be ensured; multiple leaders getting considered

NEW DELHI: Indications are that Modi and BJP leadership are using good performance in the general elections as the criteria for appointing ministers. Representation of women, youth and backward groups will also be ensured. Constituents who have won all the contested seats and have 100 percent strike rate may be given due representation. Party president and Rajya Sabha MP Jayant Chaudhary from the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), which won both the contested seats in Uttar Pradesh, has a chance. He is the grandson of former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh, who was awarded the Bharat Ratna by the second Modi government. Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan may get a seat. The party had won all five contested seats. Chirag has emerged as an important Dalit face of Bihar. Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena party also won both the contested seats.

BJP leaders who have performed well may also be given space in the Union Cabinet. The name of Shivraj Singh Chouhan who won from Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh with a majority of more than 8 lakh votes is also being heard. Chauhan is a four-time Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and former BJP National Vice President. BJP performed well in Madhya Pradesh Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. The name of the party's state president VD Sharma, who led it, is also being considered. It is indicated that Union Minister Nityanand Rai, who won three consecutive terms from Bihar and entered the Lok Sabha, will also get a seat. He is a confidant of Amit Shah.

Women leaders being considered

It is reported that Bansuri Swaraj, daughter of former Union Minister Sushma Swaraj, who defeated Aam Aadmi Party candidate Somnath Bharti in the New Delhi constituency, is being actively considered. The names of Dr Lata Wankhede, who won on a BJP ticket with a majority of more than four and a half lakh votes in Sagar constituency in Madhya Pradesh, and Savitri Thakur, who won in the Dhar seat in Madhya Pradesh by nearly two and a half lakh votes, are also being considered to ensure women representation. Savitri Thakur is a leader belonging to the Scheduled Tribes category.