Ahead of UP elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced to reshuffle his council of ministers on July 5. Modi is expected to induct at least 12 new faces, many of them Dalit and from Uttar Pradesh.

Modi likely to bring in new faces from at least four states, while the top four portfolios home, external affairs, defence and finance are unlikely to be touched.

At present, there are 66 ministers at the Centre, including the Prime Minister and a vacancy. The Constitution allows 82 ministers.

ANI reported, Congress leader Tom Vadakkan dubbed it to be a ‘futile exercise’ and said Prime Minister Modi should instead shift his focus on the non-performing ministers.

“Reshuffle should be about merits and performance…There are ministries, whose performance is much wanting and the Prime Minister should focus on that instead of trying to showcase and do cosmetic changes to garner votes,” he said.

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Nandini