NEW DELHI: With Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling a full cabinet meeting on July 3, the rumor of a Union cabinet reshuffle ahead of the Lok Sabha elections has intensified. Suresh Gopi's name is also heard from Kerala. Metroman E Sreedharan's name was also circulated but unlikely as he is 87 years old. The age limit set by BJP is 75 years.

Rumors intensified when a large cabinet meeting was called at 4 pm on the 3rd at the convention center built at Pragati Maidan for the G20 summit. The Cabinet meeting is usually held on Wednesdays at the Prime Minister's residence.

Modi held talks with key leaders on Wednesday in the presence of Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President JP Nadda. BL Santhosh, General Secretary of the organization also attended. The discussion was about preparations for this year's Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Chhattisgarh assembly elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

There are indications that there will be a significant shake-up in the government and the BJP ahead of the elections. Many state presidents of BJP may be changed. Departments including Nitin Gadkari's may also be divided. The last major reorganization was the removal of 12 ministers including Ravi Shankar Prasad, Harsh Vardhan and Prakash Javadekar and the inclusion of 17 ministers including Jyotiraditya Scindia and Narayan Rane in 2021.

Suresh Gopi

Suresh Gopi's name was heard even in January when the news of reorganization was doing the rounds. He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the first Modi government in 2014 and is set to contest in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Thrissur. Suresh Gopi contested for Lok Sabha in 2019 and Assembly in 2021 from Thrissur. E Sreedharan was the Palakkad BJP candidate. Meanwhile, the state leadership has not confirmed the case of the two. Presently, V Muraleedharan and Rajeev Chandrasekhar are the Malayali presence in the Union Cabinet.