India's Modi set for first cabinet reshuffle

Manohar Parrikar, regional leader of BJP, is tipped to take over as defence minister

NEW DELHI: India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on Sunday expected to carry out the first major reshuffle of his cabinet since storming to power in May, with the key defence portfolio likely to go to a new minister.

Manohar Parrikar, a sauve regional leader of Modi's right-wing Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), is tipped to take over as defence minister after resigning Saturday as chief minister of the resort coastal state of Goa.

Parrikar's likely appointment would ease the burden on Arun Jaitley, who has been juggling both the defence and finance ministries while battling ill-health.

Being relieved of defence would allow Jaitley to focus on spurring the flagging economy by making India more investor-friendly.

A government source told AFP on Saturday that Parrikar had accepted an offer to "head a key ministry" but the portfolio would only be announced the next day.

Like Modi, Parrikar has a strong background in the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) organisation, accused by critics of sometimes fomenting religious conflict in India, which has a large Muslim minority.

Modi was due to hold a breakfast for the newcomers with the swearing-in slated for early afternoon at New Delhi's Rashtrapati Bhavan presidential palace, Indian media reported.

Several new faces could be brought in, while some junior ministers could be elevated to full cabinet rank.

Analysts said the rejig could come as a relief to several of Modi's ministers who have been handling multiple portfolios.

Modi is widely known as a workaholic intent on shaking India's economy out of its doldrums.

But media reports have said some ministers and bureaucrats have felt overloaded.

"Jaitley, for example, was given two key portfolios -- each of which required a full-time minister," said K G Suresh, a senior fellow with the Delhi-based Vivekanand International Foundation think-tank.

"Modi was trying to experiment with the idea of having very few ministers," Suresh told AFP.

"It seems he has realised that his ministers are perhaps over-burdened and not able to do justice to their work."

Suresh pointed to recent developments on India's borders with giant neighbours Pakistan and China as underscoring the need for a full-time defence minister.

At least 20 civilians have been killed and thousands on both sides of the India-Pakistan frontier have fled their homes since October, which saw the start of some of the worst cross-border shelling in years.

The situation has also been tense along India's disputed frontier with China after hundreds of Chinese troops allegedly moved into territory claimed by Indians in September.

"Over the last five months, Modi has travelled across the country and has got a grip over the administration," Suresh said.

"He now has a fair idea of what are the requirements and what kind of people he needs for various roles."

The expected reshuffle follows last month's big BJP gains in elections in the key states of Maharashtra and Haryana, which were viewed as another sign that Modi is still enjoying a honeymoon period.

Modi wants a strong ministerial team in place ahead of Parliament's winter session, which begins on November 22.

The government is seeking to boost the economy, which expanded last year by a near-decade low of 4.7% -- half the scorching pace seen during the country's boom a few years back.

Modi has been busy slashing India's infamous red tape, which is seen as holding back growth.

But he has so far steered clear of "big bang" reforms, such as contentious changes to rigid hire-and-fire rules that businesses say discourages manufacturing investment.

In other changes, Jayant Sinha, the Harvard-educated son of former BJP finance minister Yashwant Sinha, will likely get a ministerial berth along with Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, a popular Muslim face in the Hindu nationalist party.